Crew Chief Cake Walk

Ganassi is at it again. In a move that mirrors their Busch Series changeup last year, they’re swapping crew chiefs on the cup side. Donny Wingo and Jimmy Elledge will swap drivers as they try to pump life back into struggling teams.

Last year Ganassi made a similar swap moving Brian Pattie to the #42 and Brad Parrott to the #41. Obviously the swap was not the sweeping success that Chip was hoping for. While the runs throughout the remainder of the season were not bad, they were no better with the swap than they were before it.

So now Ganassi is trying it again in the cup series moving Donnie Wingo off the Montoya team, which he has arguably had success at, and giving it to Sorenson crew chief Jimmy Elledge; that would then put Wingo with Sorenson.

So the big question, will this work? My guess is probably not. Chip’s answer for problems within his race teams are to make personnel changes, not driver changes. There is an old adage that it is never the driver’s fault. I think it is safe to say this is not the case within this organization. Reed who has had a less than spectacular three seasons with Ganassi (Ganassi ‘Target’ed) is not going to be able to fix all of his problems with a new crew chief. I also think it is foolish to pull Donnie Wingo from Montoya who had a pretty successful first season with his first win at Sears Point. While his average finish has been better this year, his performances have been less than inspiring.

Only time will tell if this is a success, but if history is any indication the teams will continue to flounder despite the crew chief swap.

Subscribe to the Insiders

Related Posts: