Busch and Danica to switch crews (2nd Update)
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| Kurt Busch's switch to Stewart-Haas Racing has not produced the expected results. |
Greg Zipadelli met with the media Friday at Martinsville to discuss the crew swap between the #10 & #41 teams that was announced this week:
TAKE US THROUGH THE CHANGES THIS WEEK:
"This week obviously we have made some changes for Texas between the #10 and the #41. We are just basically looking to try to get both teams to be a little more consistent. They have had speed throughout the year, but haven't necessarily put the whole season together all the races at the level that we expect from them. Tony Gibson has got a lot of experience. That group has been with a lot of veteran drivers. We just felt like it was worth moving him over to Kurt (Busch). We feel like his experience and things will help put that group together and get the finishes that we need out of that team. As far as Daniel (Knost) he is a young aggressive, very smart engineer. Danica (Patrick) is used to more of that dealing with the engineers from her background. She actually, a while ago, talked about having the opportunity to work with a younger engineer and build the relationship over time. I just kind of feel like it was the time to do it. We have three races with us not sure what the testing policy is for next year. This is a good opportunity for us to switch things up for Texas. The last three races and just see how things go."
DANIEL (KNOST) IS THE INTERIM DOES HE HAVE THREE RACES TO EARN THAT JOB?
"No, we just have a lot of things going at Stewart-Haas. We have a lot of people moving here this fall. I would like to believe that Daniel will have that position. I think it is just kind of wait and see, Danica how she works with him and how they get along. Then with Haas F1 Matt (Borland) moving over there we have got a lot of things moving in our company. Daniel is going to be with SHR for a long period of time. It's not a matter of whether he doesn't do a good job there. He has done a great job. We really fed him to the wolves. He was a guy without a lot of experience. He won a race, made the Chase, it's just been and up and down year. I think he has a lot of potential, we put him with Danica. I think they have got the opportunity to learn and grow together as Danica continues to grow every week. Like I said Kurt and (Tony) Gibson have a lot of experience in the past and hopefully the experience the two of them have we can put that together and make a pretty solid team."
ANYTHING COMING FOR THE #14?
"The #14 car is a different subject. These guys have gone through a lot. Chad (Johnston) has come in, new engineer, they are trying to learn each other plus deal with the situations they have gone through. We are looking at that situation completely different right now and we haven't quite got to the end of what we are doing there. If changes need to be done we are just really trying to get that group to bond to work together to figure out what Tony (Stewart) needs. They went to this rules package and a lot of these things. They missed a lot of the testing last year with his (Tony Stewart's) broken leg, this year with the incident that he had. That is a completely different element that I really don't want to get into today." Chevy PR
10/22/14 As Stewart-Haas Racing has confirmed on their website, the #41 and #10 crews will in fact swap places. This rumor is upgraded to 'Fact.'
10/22/14 This Fox Sports article by Jared Turner says that Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Danica Patrick and Kurt Busch will switch teams and crew chiefs for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway November 2nd.
No surprise here. Busch sits a disappointing 13th in the standings. And while Patrick has turned in some better results of late, she is mired in 27th place. Also, aside from Kevin Harvick the SHR operation has performed below expectations, with Busch's spring win at Martinsville being the only victory for the team other than Harvick's three wins.
AR1 Staff