More than half the NASCAR Cup Series full-time teams either have a new driver or a new crew chief.
What teams or drivers made the best moves?
NASCAR fans will get their first glimpse this weekend at the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. Here’s a look at the pairings that could make the biggest impact.
1. Brad Keselowski-Jeremy Bullins (RFK Racing No. 6)
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Brad Keselowski is back with his crew chief who guided him to 17 victories in the Xfinity Series, and that brings a good vibe. After all, Keselowski has a history of translating Xfinity success with a crew chief into Cup success (see his pairing at Penske with Paul Wolfe). It seemed that Keselowski and former crew chief Matt McCall had different ideas on changes, adjustments and setups over the second half of last season. McCall has now moved to Spire Motorsports in a competition department role.
2. Chase Briscoe-James Small (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19)
Chase Briscoe replaces Martin Truex Jr. as the driver of this JGR car. Briscoe has spent his entire four seasons in Cup at Stewart-Haas Racing, where he won two races over the last three years. The No. 19 team won three races over the last three years (all in 2023). This team is itching to show what it can do with a younger driver who might be more receptive to the data-driven, simulator-heavy preparation currently required of Cup drivers.
3. Michael McDowell-Travis Peterson (Spire Motorsports No. 71)
Michael McDowell and crew chief Travis Peterson make the move from Front Row Motorsports to Spire. And while many consider this a lateral move, it will be up to McDowell and Peterson to show how this change will improve performance from one win and 15 top-10 finishes in the last two years. They were a little handicapped last year at Front Row as Peterson had been cut off from some of the information flow from Ford.
4. Noah Gragson-Drew Blickensderfer (Front Row Motorsports No. 4)
Noah Gragson and crew chief Drew Blickensderfer come over from SHR after FRM bought one of the SHR charters. In their first year together, they had five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes, with a finish of 24th in the standings. That was an improvement from Gragson from his first half-season in Cup in 2023. The two formed a bond and likely enter a more stable situation in 2025.
5. Justin Haley-Rodney Childers (Spire Motorsports No. 7)
Justin Haley and Rodney Childers are both new at Spire. Haley did come over for the final seven races of 2024 and finished twice in the top 20. The expectations are much higher for his first full season with the team, as championship-winning crew chief Childers comes from SHR, where he spent the majority of his career with Kevin Harvick. Childers, who has won 40 Cup races as a crew chief, seems a little re-energized with this move. Not only will his experience be key, but he also will be critical in bringing ideas on how to strengthen the alliance with Hendrick.
6. Shane van Gisbergen-Stephen Doran (Trackhouse Racing No. 88)
Shane van Gisbergen is one of two Cup rookies this year (Riley Herbst is the other), and he is paired with Stephen Doran, a former SHR engineer who was a rookie Cup crew chief last year at Spire with Zane Smith. SVG won his first Cup start in 2023 at the inaugural Chicago street course, he's a three-time Supercars champion and will be a threat on every road course. How will he do on ovals in Cup after one year in Xfinity? That’s where an engineer like Doran will need to get him up to speed quickly.
7. Todd Gilliland-Chris Lawson (Front Row Motorsports No. 34)
Crew chief Chris Lawson replaces Ryan Bergenty as crew chief for Todd Gilliland (Bergenty will crew chief Zane Smith) and has been tasked with building a team for the driver who is now FRM’s veteran with three years of Cup experience. Lawson and Gilliland won races together in the East Series and the trucks. If they can build on their history of success, they will be a threat at times this year.
8. Denny Hamlin-Chris Gayle (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11)
Denny Hamlin was floored when he found out that Chris Gabehart would move to a JGR competition director role, and he would have a new crew chief for 2025. Chris Gayle comes over after being crew chief the last three seasons for Ty Gibbs, where they ran well but could never find their way to victory lane. Gayle is trying not to overhaul how the Hamlin team is run. They need to get off to a quick start, as Hamlin knows his years are numbered to win a championship.
9. Bubba Wallace-Charles Denike (23XI Racing No. 23)
Bubba Wallace didn’t make the playoffs. So 23XI Racing opted to make a change at crew chief for Wallace. Denike has won 10 races as a crew chief in trucks, including eight in the last two seasons with Christian Eckes. Perhaps more important is that he has a longtime bond with team co-owner Hamlin, who raced against cars prepped by Denike at short tracks throughout Virginia.
10. Austin Dillon-Richard Boswell (Richard Childress Racing No. 3)
Austin Dillon looks to regroup after a rough 2024 where he had both Keith Rodden and Justin Alexander as crew chiefs. RCR hired Richard Boswell (who was crew chief for Briscoe at SHR) and other team members from SHR in hopes that the group can build on what they were doing over at Stewart-Haas — but with Dillon and RCR.
Here are the rest and in order of car number:
10: Ty Dillon and Andrews Dickeson at Kaulig Racing — Dillon goes from sharing the No. 16 to a full-time role and is being paired with Dickeson, an engineer who came from Richard Childress Racing.
16: AJ Allmendinger and Trent Owens — Allmendinger takes over as full-time driver of the Kaulig No. 16 car after its rotation of drivers last year. Owens was crew chief for Kaulig’s Daniel Hemric last year.
21: Josh Berry and Miles Stanley — Both are new to the Wood Brothers, with Berry replacing Harrison Burton and Stanley — a Penske engineer — replacing Bullins.
35: Riley Herbst and Davin Restivo — The pair move from Stewart-Haas Racing’s Xfinity program to 23XI Racing (a new third entry for 23XI). This is the rookie Cup season for both.
38: Zane Smith and Ryan Bergenty — Smith replaces Michael McDowell (who was the No. 34) and is paired with Bergenty (who was crew chief of the 38 with Gilliland).
41: Cole Custer and Aaron Kramer — Custer moves from the organization’s Xfinity program to Cup as part of the Haas Factory Team rebrand. Kramer comes from RFK, where he was lead engineer for Chris Buescher.
42: John Hunter Nemechek and Travis Mack — Mack comes from Kaulig Racing, where he worked with the No. 16 team (a variety of drivers) and replaces Ben Beshore.
43: Erik Jones and Ben Beshore — These two were paired late last year. Beshore moved from the Legacy Motor Club car of John Hunter Nemechek to replace Dave Elenz, who was released from Legacy near the end of last season.
51: Cody Ware and Billy Plourde — They appear to be set for a full season together after being paired for Ware's nine races in the No. 51 Cup car in 2024.
54: Ty Gibbs and Tyler Allen — Allen moves from the JGR Xfinity program to replace Chris Gayle, who moved to crew chief Hamlin. Allen won eight races with a variety of JGR drivers in the Xfinity Series last year.
60: Ryan Preece and Derrick Finley — Preece joins RFK Racing for its new car while Finley — who has 219 races of experience as a Cup crew chief — takes on the Preece crew chief role after being in a variety of competition and engineering roles at RFK.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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