Furniture Row, JTG/Daugherty shake up staffs, announce new crew chiefs

Furniture Row, JTG/Daugherty shake up staffs, announce new crew chiefs

July 24, 2012

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

NASCAR's silly season for Sprint Cup Series crew chiefs is in full swing.

After a half-season with JTG/Daugherty Racing, Todd Berrier is moving on, having accepted a new job as crew chief for Regan Smith at Furniture Row Racing, effective immediately, the Denver, Colo.-based organization announced Tuesday.

Berrier replaces Pete Rondeau, whose impending reassignment to the role of director of vehicle performance development was announced before the July 15 race at New Hampshire.

JTG/Daugherty already has named David Hyder interim crew chief for driver Bobby Labonte, as well as announcing the hiring of a new general manager, veteran Bobby Hutchens. Berrier filled both roles for the team owned by Tad and Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty.

Hyder is crew chief for JTG/Daugherty development driver Cale Conley, who competes in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

Before signing on with JTG/Daugherty at the end of the 2011 season, Berrier was a Cup crew chief with Richard Childress Racing for 11 years, including stints with drivers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Casey Mears and Jeff Green.

Berrier has eight wins to his credit as a crew chief, including the 2007 Daytona 500 and 2003 Brickyard 400, both with Harvick. At Furniture Row, he'll be part of the future of a growing team.

"Furniture Row Racing has a reputation in the Sprint Cup garage for its commitment and potential," Berrier said. "I welcome this opportunity and can't wait to begin my new position at Indianapolis this weekend."

Hutchens most recently served as director of competition at Stewart-Haas Racing. His release from that position in June of 2011 paved the way for the hiring of longtime Tony Stewart crew chief Greg Zipadelli in the same capacity.

Hutchens spent 20 seasons with Richard Childress Racing before taking a job with Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2008. While at RCR, Hutchens was part of the 1996 "co-crew chief" experiment for Dale Earnhardt Sr. under an arrangement where he and David Smith divided the duties of departing crew chief Andy Petree.

Officially, Smith was the crew chief and Hutchens the team engineer. The pairing lasted one season, before Larry McReynolds took over as Earnhardt's crew chief.

"Bobby Hutchens is someone I have admired for a long time and the individual I've turned to many times for direction over my 18 years as a car owner," Tad Geschickter said. "In my opinion, he is the best in the business, and we are fortunate to have someone of his caliber step in to help steer our team in the right direction during this important transition."

Geschickter said he has his eye on a full-time crew chief he'd like to hire but couldn't get a deal done before the announcement of Berrier's departure.