The relationship between a driver and a crew chief is an important one. Some drivers and crew chiefs have fought their way up to the top together. Which of these combinations found success both in the lower divisions and at the highest level?
In 1991, Jeff Gordon was okay in the Xfinity Series. He failed to qualify at Daytona, but he did record 10 top-10 finishes. Car owner Bill Davis elected to replace crew chief Keith Simmons with Ray Evernham, and Gordon and Evernham found success right away.
They won 11 poles and three races in the Xfinity Series in 1992, and the two made the jump up to Cup with Rick Hendrick for the last race of the 1992 season before running full-time in 1993. The rest, as they say, is history.
The two won 47 Cup Series races between 1994 and 1999 (7.8 per season) and three Cup Series Championships in 1995, 1997, and 1998. They also set the modern era record for Cup Series wins in a season with 13 in 1998. Simply put, they were seemingly invincible.
Once they were rivals, then they were partners. In 1997, when Robbie Reiser needed a driver to replace the injured Tim Bender in the Xfinity Series, he called up his rival, Matt Kenseth. The two were solid in their first year, but they broke out in 1998 winning three races, finishing second in the standings to Dale Earnhardt Jr.
After another solid year in Xfinity and select Cup Series races, Kenseth and Reiser moved up to Cup full-time in 2000. They won their first Cup Series race at the Coca-Cola 600 that year, and beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Rookie of the Year race. In 2003, they teamed up to win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship, which was the last one under the season-long format.
They continued to win races beyond their championship season before Reiser was promoted to General Manager of Roush-Fenway Racing near the end of the 2007 season. The two went out with a bang, leading 214 of 267 laps in their final race together at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In 2016, a relatively little-known college student named William Byron took the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series by storm. Byron won seven races, and only a blown engine at Phoenix, the second to last race of the season, could keep him from the championship. Rudy Fugle was atop the pit box for that magical season.
As Byron moved up, Fugle stayed at Kyle Busch Motorsports for the next four seasons. In 2021, Fugle moved up to the Cup Series to become Byron’s crew chief once again. Since then, the two have won six races together in three seasons.
Byron is now in the midst of his best season in the Cup Series, and his partnership with Fugle is a large part of that. A Championship may be in the cards for this duo if everything plays out right.
For Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s first full-time seasons in the Xfinity Series in 1998 and 1999, Tony Eury Sr. was the crew chief. The two were nothing short of dominant, winning 13 races and two consecutive Xfinity Series Championships.
In 2000, they moved up to the Cup Series winning two races, and that was just the beginning. The year after, in the wake of Dale Earnhardt’s tragic death, the two combined for one of the most iconic moments in NASCAR history. Earnhardt Jr.’s car was untouchable, and he went from 6th to 1st in a final laps to win the first race at Daytona after his dad’s death.
Following that, the two would win 12 more races over the next three and a half seasons, but they would split after 2004. Earnhardt Jr. never won as many races in a season or finished as high in the standings in a season as he did during his time with Eury Sr.
Todd Berrier and Kevin Harvick first partnered up in 2000 in the Xfinity Series and won three races. They were planning on running the full season again in 2001 while Harvick ran six Cup Series races. Everyone knows the story from there as Harvick was called upon to replace the late Dale Earnhardt for the final 35 races of the season.
Despite pulling double duty for a full-season, Harvick and Berrier would win the 2001 Xfinity Series Championship. In 2003, Berrier moved up to Cup to work with Harvick once again. Harvick would have the best seasons of his career up to that point.
During their six seasons together, Harvick won eight races including the 2007 Daytona 500. He would also finish in the top-5 in the points three times with a fifth place finish in 2003 and fourth place finished in 2006 and 2008.
Many drivers seem to find success when reunited with their crew chiefs from lower series. Some of them go on to win championships and many go on to win races.
Four road courses on the schedule, and somehow that’s enough to spark one of the biggest debates in the garage. After recent comments from Brad Keselowski questioning the business value of road racing, the conversation has picked up serious steam. Is NASCAR leaning too far into it, or is the current balance about right?
There are valid points on both sides, from sponsorship realities to fan traditions to competitive diversity. Some tracks have gained traction. Others have struggled. The question isn’t just whether road courses belong, but how many make sense within a 36-race season. It’s less about extremes and more about direction. And with future schedule changes always looming, this debate probably isn’t settled anytime soon.
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Corey Day’s run-in with Connor Zilisch at Circuit of the Americas became one of the most discussed incidents from Saturday’s race, even drawing a response from Denny Hamlin as well, who this week talked about his support for Zilisch.
During the race, Zilisch dealt with brake trouble on his No. 1 Chevrolet but worked his way forward from the rear of the field, advancing from P29 to P4 in the closing laps. With five laps remaining, he engaged in a battle with Hendrick Motorsports driver Corey Day as they exited Turn 2, holding the outside line. But as they contested the position, Day moved up behind him, contact occurred, and Zilisch spun off course to finish the race in P21.
After the contact, frustrated, Connor Zilisch initially referred to Day as an “absolute hack” on his radio, describing the clash as part of the latter’s racing pattern. But the JR Motorsports driver later tempered his comments, simply saying he expects an apology from the young Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Given that Zilisch declined to escalate the situation, on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin credited him for calmly managing his response after the race, saying,
“Zillich was smart about this. He in his interview, he’s like, “I looked over at him thinking, come on over here. Come apologize.” And he said he just looked at him with a stare like, I don’t know what it is with these guys. Why, Why can’t they… youth?”
However, he questioned Day’s failure to issue an immediate apology. In fact, he said he was “floored” by Corey Day’s reaction, which involved staring at a frustrated Zilisch rather than apologizing.
The No. 11 JGR driver also raised questions about how Hendrick Motorsports evaluates developing drivers. Organizations invest with the expectation of returns measured in wins and titles, but when a driver continues to make visible mistakes, fans and especially other drivers will start to scrutinize. Hamlin pointed to the balance between development and production, asking how long it would hold.
The COTA incident was not the first time Day’s racing antics were questioned. Last week, during the Atlanta race, Day was involved in a multi-car crash on lap five after attempting a three-wide move that resulted in contact with Ryan Sieg. The move triggered a chain reaction that collected several cars.
Sieg responded over team radio, questioning both the decision and Day’s presence in the series.
Hamlin argued that drivers are allowed to make mistakes as part of growth. At teams with front-running equipment and title ambitions, time frames are shorter. But he questioned whether Day faces a deadline by season’s end or whether the assessment extends into the following year.
In Day’s case, results have not offset the incidents that have drawn attention. Hamlin referenced Kyle Larson as an example, noting that aggressive driving can lead to contact as well as wins.
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Bubba Wallace shared a message on X following the death of a close friend, writing about the weight of the news over the weekend.
“Makes you think about life and how precious it is… That tune… Nutshell- Alice In Chains Love yall,” he continued.
While Wallace did not name the friend in his post, one day before, reports confirmed that Chase Pistone, 42, had died. Pistone competed on short tracks and in NASCAR’s national ranks and later owned a Legends car. His family asked media outlets to share the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number, 988. His brothers, Nick and Tom Pistone, confirmed the news to LegendsNation.com.
Pistone, who was the grandson of NASCAR driver “Tiger” Tom Pistone, built his racing career in Legends cars and Late Models before stepping into NASCAR competition.
Apparently, Wallace and Pistone raced each other in Legends cars around 2005. Pistone won four Summer Shootout Championships at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with two titles in the Semi-Pro and two in the Pro divisions. Wallace competed in both Bandolero and Legends categories during that period, winning 35 of 48 Bandolero races in one season.
Both drivers were regulars at the Charlotte Summer Shootout. From there, their paths moved toward the national touring series.
Pistone made starts in ARCA and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2005 and 2006, including an appearance with Green Light Racing at Martinsville Speedway. Meanwhile, Wallace moved into the K&N Pro Series East by 2010.
In 2006, Pistone made a start in the Nationwide Series at Martinsville, finishing 37th. After failing to qualify for the ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona in 2007, he stepped away from NASCAR competition until 2014.
He returned that year for eight combined starts in the Truck and Nationwide Series. In his final season at the national level, Pistone recorded a P9-place finish in the Truck Series race at Gateway, the best of his NASACR Truck career.
Beyond driving, Pistone owned CP Inc., building Legends and Late Model stock cars and offering leasing programs that included equipment, crew, and transport.
