Craven, others may benefit from new chiefs

If you thought NASCAR’s Silly Season centered on driver changes, consider this:

When the season begins, more than half of Winston Cup’s top 25 drivers will have different crew chiefs than they did at the 2002 Daytona 500.

The top eight teams in the Winston Cup standings decided to stick with the status quo for 2003. But 13 of the next 17 in points – starting with 1999 series champion Dale Jarrett, who was ninth – have made crew chief changes within the last 10 months.

Communication between driver and crew chief is essential to Cup success. When a driver describes the handling characteristics of his car, such as “loose in, tight off,” the crew chief must be able to translate what the driver feels on the track into mechanical adjustments that correct the condition. Of the new combinations for 2003, those who are fastest to develop the necessary rapport and trust will be the fastest on the asphalt.

With that in mind, it’s hard to fathom why car owner Bill Davis would hire volatile crew chief Frankie Stoddard to replace volatile crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. on Ward Burton’s No. 22 Dodge. Did it occur to Davis that the laid-back Burton, the 2002 Daytona 500 winner, might benefit from having a more even-tempered crew chief?

Maybe the Burton-Stoddard combination will work, but the odds are against it. It’s all but certain that Davis’ team won’t match the success owner Jack Roush enjoyed in 2002 after his sagacious crew chief swap. Roush hit the jackpot when he moved Jimmy Fennig, Mark Martin’s longtime crew chief, to second-year driver Kurt Busch’s No. 97 Ford before the start of the 2002 season. At the same time, Ben Leslie moved from Busch’s team to Martin’s No. 6. Martin finished second in points, and Busch won four races and finished third.

Will any of the new combinations match the level of performance achieved by the Busch and Martin teams? These five driver-crew chief tandems are most likely to succeed:

– Ricky Craven and Scott Miller. Although Newburgh native Craven and former crew chief Mike Beam, who now is Jeff Green’s crew chief at Richard Childress Racing, enjoyed a solid relationship, Miller’s experience with Craven’s No. 32 team should ease the transition. Miller was a shock and chassis specialist for the No. 32 team in 2001 and 2002.

Craven is one of the more analytical drivers, and Miller’s technical background should benefit this team immensely. And with PPI switching from Fords to Pontiacs in 2003, Miller’s familiarity with General Motors, gained during his time at Childress, should also be a bonus.

– Dale Jarrett and Brad Parrott. The burning question at Robert Yates Racing is whether control freak Todd Parrott can turn the reins of the No. 88 team over to Brad, his younger brother. Yates promoted Todd to director of competition over Jarrett’s and Elliott Sadler’s teams and hired Brad to replace Todd as crew chief.

Ideally, Todd will consult with both teams during the week and leave the pit calls to Brad on Sunday. Brad flourished as a crew chief at Roush Racing, where he led Jeff Burton’s Busch team to five victories in 13 starts last season. He returns to RYR with a new vision and added confidence, which should spark the entire team, including Jarrett.

– Ricky Rudd and Pat Tryson. This could be the best year for the Wood Brothers since David Pearson drove the No. 21 Mercury in the 1970s. Tryson has been a Winston Cup crew chief since 1997 and has worked with the Wood Brothers since November 2000. Near the end of the 2002 season, Rudd spent more time in the Wood Brothers transporter than he did with the No. 28 team at Yates.

This could be a congenial group because Wood Brothers is based in Virginia, and Rudd is from there. With continued technical support from Roush Racing, they should be contenders.

– Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. Tony Jr. had inherited the crew chief position – if not the title – from his father, Tony Eury Sr., before the 2002 season ended. Slowly and steadily, Eury Jr. has grown into what is now his official role.

Earnhardt turned to the younger Eury for direction in crucial situations last season, though Earnhardt still relied on Tony Sr. to be a calming influence within the team. Like their fathers before them, the Juniors, who are cousins, have known each other since childhood. In the past, their familiarity and a little family feuding may have stood in the way of optimum performance, but both have matured and are approaching the 2003 season with a single goal: the Cup championship.

– Elliott Sadler and Raymond Fox III. This Yates team formerly was the No. 28 Texaco Ford driven by Rudd. It’s now the No. 38 M&M’s Ford driven by Sadler. Crew members were almost unanimous in their desire to have Fox become crew chief after Michael “Fatback” McSwain jumped ship in the fall.

Fox has tested several times with Sadler and has seen steady improvement. Yates’ cars always have been strong at Daytona, and if Sadler can start the season with a top five finish (as he did with the Wood Brothers last year), that momentum will carry the team a long way.