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CUP: More Crew Chief Changes at Roush
Written by: Tom Jensen   
11/09/2006 - 07:00 PM
Avondale, Ariz.
 
Jimmy Fennig with team owner Jack Roush. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett/Getty) ยป More Photos


Roush Racing President Jack Roush said Friday morning that his NASCAR Nextel Cup crew chief lineup is "80 percent complete" for 2007.

According to Roush, big changes are planned for his team after a season that failed to match the results his five-car operation produced last year, when all the Roush cars qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.

Jimmy Fennig, who spent most of this season overseeing Roush's Busch operation, will be paired with rookie David Ragan in the No. 6 Roush Nextel Cup Ford Fusion next year. Ragan, of course, will replace Mark Martin, who had driven that car since 1988.

Pat Tryson will move from crew chief of the No. 6 to crew chief of Greg Biffle's No. 16 Ford next season, replacing Doug Richert, whose '07 plans are very much in the air.

Bob Osborne, who began the year as crew chief for Carl Edwards, was switched to Jamie McMurray's early in the season and back again prior to this weekend's race at Phoenix, will stay with Edwards and the No. 99 next year. Also staying put, Roush said, is Robbie Reiser, who will lead Matt Kenseth's team for a final season.

That leaves only Jamie McMurray
without an assigned crew chief for 2007 yet. One tantalizing option for that ride could be Matt Borland, who's sitting out the final two races of 2007 and might be leaving Penske Racing South. "I heard a rumor that he packed up his stuff and left," Roush said of Borland. "If he were on the street, I'd be very interested in talking to him. If he's under contract, I have no interest in him."

As for pairing Ragan and Fennig, Roush said it was Fennig's decision as much as his. "Jimmy had the opportunity to be a crew chief for one of our senior drivers - I'm not going to name names - but decided he'd rather have a rookie program," Roush said Friday morning at Phoenix International Raceway. "I asked him if he'd rather have a more established driver or David Ragan, and he said, 'Man, I'd love to have David Ragan, because I think I can help him more than somebody who's already got their legs under them.'"

Richert said he was unsure of his plans for 2007. "There's a lot of stuff going on, but nothing certain," said the veteran.

Wally Brown, who worked with Edwards for much of the season after Osborne was transferred, is expected to leave Roush at the end of the year.