Richard Childress Racing Adds New Operations Director
"I have known and worked closely with Sammy since 2001 in a variety of teams and roles," said Warren. "He is well rounded and understands the sport from multiple perspectives. He has the hands-on experience of a crew chief along with the understanding of what it takes to build a modern, technical racing organization capable of winning races in today's competitive environment."
Johns will take on an integral role at RCR managing and coordinating the manufacturing and car assembly processes, along with overseeing the crew chiefs and general execution of the race teams. RCR's Technical Director, Mike Coughlan, will continue to focus the engineering department on improving the performance of the cars and the ability to create and use data for a competitive advantage.
The Lakeland, Florida, native began his racing career at local short tracks before being named crew chief at Andy Petree Racing. From there, Johns shifted gears and joined Evernham Motorsports as director of competition. He remained a permanent fixture within the organization through 2009 when the company officially became Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM). Johns transitioned into a new role of vice president of operations with RPM and resumed his title until earlier this year.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to join such an iconic sports organization in Richard Childress Racing," Johns said. "The level of engineering and technical expertise at RCR is second-to-none, and I look forward to contributing my knowledge and capabilities to helping this team succeed in 2017 and beyond."