Rogers faces many challenges moving up to Cup
Let's face it, the decision Joe Gibbs Racing made to change the crew chief for the No. 18 team had to happen.
I'm not surprised by the move, and I think it's a good thing.
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You are not going to keep Mars Inc., parent company of sponsor M&M's and Pedigree, involved in that deal if you are not winning races and contending for championships. The No. 18 team has the winning races part down, but they are not contending for the championship.
The good thing for that team is that they found a candidate within the company, Dave Rogers, to take over for Steve Addington. It's a natural progression for Rogers. Promoting crew members is something we have seen a lot of in recent years — for example, Shane Wilson was bumped up from the Richard Childress Racing Nationwide Series team to lead Clint Bowyer's No. 33 crew this season. That is the desirable deal, to train somebody in the Nationwide Series ranks and hopefully either have them involved with the driver they wind up working with on the Cup side at a later date.
You have to commend Joe and J.D. Gibbs for trying to maintain that practice rather than bringing someone in from the outside. That's the way Steve Addington got his shot. He was given his opportunity and he had some success at the Sprint Cup level.
By making this move with races still remaining in the season, Joe Gibbs Racing is giving Dave Rogers an opportunity to find his footing before they start fresh in 2010. It also allows upper management the chance to evaluate where chemistry is lacking within the team and make any necessary changes. You may have somebody — like a car chief or engineer — that feels slighted because they feel they should have gotten the job instead of Rogers. I'm not saying this is happening within JGR right now, but it is a possibility and they will have time to figure it out.
The other benefit of making the change this year is that it gives Rogers an opportunity to get accustomed to the Sprint Cup Series. Not to say that he doesn't have a good basis or won't get help with things, but there are many differences between leading a Sprint Cup team and a Nationwide Series team — it is sort of like going from playing college football to the NFL.
A simple thing, like going through inspection, is different from one series to the other. Other changes he will have to get accustomed to include: having more tires to use during a race (in Nationwide competition, you are limited to five sets for an entire race weekend), longer races that require you to alter your strategy and the opportunity for adjustments. Ultimately, you have to tweak your approach and the way you call a race to succeed. There is a different mindset.
One last thing
I've been reading the comments you guys have been leaving, and I've noticed a few of you were asking why Greg Zipadelli, currently crew chief of the No. 20 JGR team, wasn't moved over to guide Busch's team.
Folks, Joe and J.D. Gibbs had the opportunity to move Zippy over last year when Tony Stewart left.
What JGR is doing is letting Zipadelli work with a rookie, Joey Logano, just like he did with Stewart over a decade ago. In case you forgot, the combination of Zipadelli and Stewart did pretty well. With that experience, Zippy is able to teach Logano and it should help them become a pretty good combination for many years to come — and we are already starting to see the results at the end of their first year.
Zippy is good where he is.
