History's Take on Driver-Crew Chief Chase Pairings

By David Smith (on Twitter at @DavidSmithMA)
September 17, 2012


If Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase opener taught us anything it was that strategy, in-race adjustments and communication between driver and crew chief are coveted assets for hopeful championship contenders. Driver Brad Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe outthought Jimmie Johnson and his crew chief of 80 Chase races, Chad Knaus, to claim the first round win in what Keselowski dubbed, “a heavyweight title fight.”

A fast racecar is not as fast without a killer driver-crew chief dynamic. Johnson and Knaus have been the bellwether duo since the Chase’s inception. Keselowski and Wolfe were so great together during their title-winning 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series season that owner Roger Penske promoted Wolfe, a rare outside hire by the close-to-the-vest organization, to be Keselowski’s Cup Series wrench. The Keselowski-driven, Wolfe-led Blue Deuce began its second consecutive Chase yesterday.

What can we realistically expect from good driver-crew chief pairings during the Chase? Since 2004, as the chart below depicts, the third season in which a driver and crew chief make the Chase together appears to be the “money year” ... Read More

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MotorsportsAnalytics.com is a subscription-based web site that brings advanced statistical concepts created for evaluating drivers and teams to the every day race fan. The web site has been featured in USA Today and Sports Business Daily and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s NASCAR Channel.

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David Smith is the Editor-in-Chief of Motorsports Analytics and the host of The David Smith Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidSmithMA.