NASCUP series driver Kyle Busch will be having a new crew chief come year 2021, this is a part of several crew chief line-up changes made by the Joe Gibbs Racing management.
Back on Tuesday, Joe Gibbs made an official announcement that Adam Stephens who has served as Kyle Busch’s crew chief for the past six seasons and jointly won two championships with Kyle will be moving to the No.20 team where he will serve in the same capacity with the driver Christian Bell.
Together, Busch and Stevens won 28 races and series titles in 2015 and 2019. The two also collected 19 wins in the Xfinity Series. Busch went without a win for most of the 2020 season, capturing his lone victory at Texas Motor Speedway, after he had already been eliminated from further title contention.
Ben Beshore will return to the Cup Series and serve as crew chief for Busch and the No. 18 Toyota team. Beshore previously served as engineer for the No. 18 team prior to moving to JGR’s Xfinity Series as crew chief in 2019.
“We go through a process at the conclusion of every season that includes evaluating each of our teams, we believe our crew chief lineup for 2021 will best position each team and driver for success across both series,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing.
“We take a lot of pride in our depth of talent across our entire organization. All of our crew chiefs are proven winners.”
Chris Gabehart and James Small will continue to serve as crew chief for the Nos. 11 (driver Denny Hamlin) and No. 19 (driver Martin Truex Jr.) teams respectively.
In addition, JGR announced changes to their Xfinity Series program. Jason Ratcliff will return to the organization as crew chief for the No. 20 Toyota driven by Harrison Burton, while Dave Rogers will work with newly-named driver Daniel Hemric in the No. 18.
Jeff Meendering will continue to serve as the crew chief with Brandon Jones, who returns behind the wheel of the No. 19. JGR also plans to field a fourth Xfinity Series entry in 2021, appointing Chris Gayle to lead the No. 54 Toyota team which will be driven by a team of all-star caliber drivers. The 2021 driver lineup and race schedule for the No. 54 team will be announced at a later date.
