Hendrick Motorsports Confirms New Engineer For Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Jr. has gone through a slew of Crew Chiefs and Engineers but still cannot win a title

Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) confirmed Monday the hiring of Tim O’Brien as the new engineer of the No. 88 Chevrolet for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr next season. O’Brien joined Hendrick in late November after a stint at Michael Waltrip Racing, which included serving as the lead engineer for the No. 55 Toyota this season.

The Fort Wayne, Indiana native joined MWR and driver Clint Bowyer in 2012 after a healthy tenure at Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates from 2005 to 2011.

He earned a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue University and soon joined Ganassi’s IndyCar program before leaping to his XFINITY Series program with driver Reed Sorenson.

He has worked alongside veteran crew chief Brian Pattie for the past 10 seasons. O’Brien replaces Kevin Meendering who left HMS for a crew chief role at JR Motorsports and driver Elliott Sadler next season, according to Jim Utter of Motorsport.com.