NASCAR Rumors 2016: Joe Gibbs Racing Makes Crew Chief Changes

By Jude Abastar, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, January 21, 2016

Joe Gibbs Racing finished the season with its first Sprint Cup title in a very long time. That's a testament of how good the organization is. For one, Kyle Busch highlighted the team's success with his first-ever Cup title.

The win also gave Toyota its first title since becoming an official manufacturer for the Cup Series. With its drivers winning 15 out of 36 of the races last year, it seems there really wasn't any reason to make changes. Ironically, one of the most formidable teams in NASCAR is not contented of its manpower, announcing major changes right before the start of the 2016 season. For instance, it was surprising to hear that Dave Rogers was transferred from being a crew chief for Denny Hamlin to filling in the same position for Carl Edwards. Rogers' replacement, meanwhile, is Mike Wheeler, who will now serve in the XFINITY Series. The only drivers who did not face changes are Busch and Matt Kenseth.

According to Hamlin, the very purpose of putting Wheeler in a position to learn crew chief responsibilities is to give him the training and experience he needs when he returns with the No. 11 team. He added that he could have been very contented with Dave Rogers, but the more important objective was to upgrade other team members.

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The drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing managed to win almost half of the races last year and then entered the Chase series as the likely to win it all, which obviously they did. Even though several drivers went deep into the playoffs, Busch remained the only driver standing up to the championship phase.

But perhaps the most notable change for JGR so far is when they let Darian Grubb go. He was supposed to be one of the most successful for the team, almost winning the Championship while working with Hamlin two years ago.