#5 Crew Chief Change? UPDATE 2 Yep: hearing Gary Dehart will not crew chief the #5 Kelloggs / Hendrick Motorsports chevy and driver Terry Labonte in 2002. Am hearing Jim Long [formerly of the #7 Ultra Motorsports team] is in the running. As reported before by FoxSports, Peter Sospenzo [former #12 Crew Chief before the team folded] is also a candidate, but sources tell me Long will get the job. Dehart will supposedly remain with Hendrick Motorsports in a managment or R&D job(12-5-2001) UPDATE: Two-time Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte, who finished a career-worst 23rd in the series points race this season, will have a new crew chief for 2002. Jim Long, who has worked for a vast array of Winston Cup drivers including Kyle Petty, Ricky Rudd and Geoffrey Bodine, will take over as crew chief for Labonte’s #5 Chevrolets, sources confirmed. It is unclear whether former crew chief Gary DeHart will remain with Labonte’s team in another position. DeHart originally worked with Labonte from 1994 to 1997, winning the 1996 championship with the driver from Texas.(That’s Racin’) UPDATE 2: NASCAR veteran Jim Long, who was a member of the team that delivered Hendrick Motorsports its first major Winston Cup victory in the 1986 Daytona 500, has been named crew chief for the Kellogg’s Racing Team with driver Terry Labonte. Long, 44, who in a NASCAR career going back to 1983 has worked with such drivers as Ricky Rudd, Bobby Allison, Geoffrey Bodine, and Kyle Petty, replaces Gary DeHart, who has accepted another assignment with Hendrick Motorsports in its Research and Development Department.(Hendrick Motorsports PR)(12-7-2001)
