Kevin Harvick will have a new NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief at Bristol this weekend.
Gil Martin will return to the helm of Harvick's Richard Childress Racing team, replacing Shane Wilson. Wilson and Harvick have struggled this season as Harvick is winless and sits eighth in the standings.
"We're just trying to turn things around to make sure we get in the Chase, then be competitive once we get into the Chase," Martin told FOXSports.com. "It's not a question of us knowing each other's history, we've worked together before.
"This is a good team. We're just trying to get things turned around."
Wilson was named crew chief for Harvick following the 2011 season. He replaced Martin, who had been the driver's crew chief since 2009. Harvick and Wilson had previously worked together in the Nationwide Series in 2006, earning 10 wins, 24 top-five finishes and 31 top 10s en route to the title. They won that by a series-record 824-point margin.
This season, Harvick is in position to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but he has just nine top-10 finishes, three of them top fives. Harvick has gone 33 races without a win.
He finished third in the standings the past two seasons and has finished no worse than fourth in three of the past four years.
Team owner Richard Childress told FOXSports.com on Monday night that Martin’s position as crew chief is “definitely a temporary situation. Childress added that Wilson remains an employee with the company and could return to the track as early as next weekend at Atlanta. However, it’s too early to speculate in what capacity.
“Right now it’s just this weekend,” Childress said.
