August 16th, 2010 
T.C. We found out this last week that Kasey Kahne would be making a one year stop at Red Bull Racing before he takes over the #5 full time at Hendrick Motorsports for 2012. A lot of questions still remain about Kahne’s future, but one of the big ones is who will be his crew chief next year and beyond. His current crew chief, Kenny Francis, has been mentioned as an option, but Red Bull already has two crew chiefs in Ryan Pemberton and Jimmy Elledge, and Alan Gustafson is firmly entrenched at Hendrick. So if you are Francis, what do you do?
Rumors are flying about Francis’ future, and I’ve heard everything from he’s staying at RPM, to he’s leaving with Kahne. Whatever the case though, he may not have a ton of options.
Let’s say for the sake of argument, Francis will follow Kahne to Hendrick. The problem then becomes what does he do next season? Sit around in his office at HMS? Or maybe become some sort of competition consultant until Kahne arrives? With Kahne making the stop at Red Bull, there is no way Red Bull would allow Francis to come in and run Kahne’s team. Why you might ask? Because then Francis would have access to all of Red Bull’s testing, engineering, and setup data and however good that information might be, Red Bull would not be okay with him then taking all of that data to HMS.
If Francis hasn’t been offered the HMS job, does he stay at RPM or try and move on to greener pastures? Everyone is expecting RPM to announce they’ve signed Marcos Ambrose during tomorrow’s scheduled press conference, so that may certainly be an option for him. Other than staying though, it doesn’t really appear as though he would have many options for next season. Most of the crew chiefs for the marquee drivers are locked up long term, and I’m not sure Francis would take anything other than a high profile job with a team that had a shot to win championships. RCR will certainly need a fourth crew chief next season, but would he be interested in working with Paul Menard? There are certainly question marks for Matt Kenseth next season, but they may turn back to Robbie Reiser. There are always going to be rumors about Lance McGrew, but other then that, Hendrick’s bosses are solid. I also wouldn’t expect any changes at Penske, Gibbs, Stewart Haas, EGR, or MWR. So while anything can certainly happen over the final part of the season with driver/crew chief relationships, Francis’ opportunities may be severely limited.
So if you are Kenny Francis, what would you do?
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You know at first when Kasey announced he was leaving I was all “please let Kenny go with him”. Kasey and he have a great relationship and they are really close but… I wanna see Kasey with someone else but at the same time Kasey is comfortable with Kenny. Maybe its frustration but I am TIRED of Kenny telling Kasey he doesnt know what to do with the car. “I dont know why the car is tight, it shouldnt be” Lately it seems like a bunch of I dont knows with Kenny. Don’t get me wrong as a Kahne fan I love Kenny but I’m just frustrated with the I dont knows that are coming out of his mouth when it comes to adjustments
“Pick up my phone when it rings.” – K. Francis
I think it would be a HUGE mistake to keep Kenny and Kasey together. Kasey needs a crew chief who will TELL him what to do and challenge him—-NOT cater to his every whim.
And can we talk strategy here? or better put–NON-strategy? Their pit strategies such as 2-4 tires have royally sucked the last 3 races and cost many many spots.
Also, when was the last time you saw a pole-sitter with the very front stall not gain ANY spots on pit road the whole flipping race?!? Michigan was pathetic.
I thought I read somewhere that Richard Petty Motorsports has Kenny Francis signed through 2011. If so, makes sense for him to team up with Marcos Ambrose. Never really thought about him with Matt Kenseth…that might be interesting.
Heard Kenny interviewed on SIRIUS last week and if he’s telling the truth, he said he likes it @ RPM. Guess we’ll know more today.
Side note: Slugger also said he has a contract through 2011 and hopes to remain @RPM.
I could possibly see him at Penske paired up with Keselowski. They haven’t exactly lit the world on fire over there with Jay Guy at the helm over there this year, and there will certainly be even more added pressure over there next year with him switching over to the blue deuce.
If Hendrick was smart they would set it up so Francis could go with Kahne to the 5, and put Gustafson on the 24. However, they extended Letarte (bad move). I can see Kahne and Gustafson being a really great combination.
Mixed feelings on Kahne & Francis staying together. I am a die hard Kahne & Francis fan & although I feel they work well together I also see what the other posters are saying. Kahne gained no spots at Michigan & there does seem to be confusion on what to do with the car. With them being a team this long they should have gained ground instead of going backwards. To be fair though Francis & Kahne have had to deal with lots of turmoil over the last couple of years & to even remain slightly competitive has been an accomplishment in my opinion. Maybe the switch to HMS is what Kahne & Francis needs, I don’t know.
Not sure why KF can’t move with KK. Don’t other crew chiefs move around. Take Matt Borland and Pat Tyrson. Tony Gibson.
Kenny Francis has taken lousy equipment and made it work for Kasey. He tells Kasey the truth on the radio when he’s puzzled and doesn’t feel he needs to stroke the ego of his driver (unlike some other crew chiefs). I’ve never heard him get upset on the radio, and when Kasey gets tired or ticked off, Kenny stays cool on the radio.
The fact that Kasey has been as competitive as he has over these last few years has much to do with his relationship with Kenny.
I would hate to see them separate.
I would go kick Lance McGrew’s butt, and take over as Jr.’s Crew Chief. Then let Martin’s crew chief over to Dale and go with Kahne.