We’ve been hearing quite regularly for the last few weeks that crew chief Rick Ren will leave Kevin Harvick Inc. at the end of the season. He’s rumored to be heading to Kyle Busch’s new team to serve in a general manager type role. Kyle Busch is expected to start a team fielding two or more Camping World Truck Series teams and possibly a Nationwide Series team in 2010. Rick Ren joined KHI in 2007 after a stint with Johnny Benson at the now defunct Bill Davis Racing. Since joining the team, he and Ron Hornaday Jr. have racked up 16 wins and one championship (a second looks inevitable this season). He has more than 30 years experience in NASCAR.(NASCAR Insiders.com)(11-6-2009)
UPDATE: During the race broadcast, Phil Parsons reported that he spoke to Kevin Harvick regarding the rumor that Rick Ren was leaving Kevin Harvick Inc. Harvick stated that Ren was signed with KHI through 2010 and Ren was not going anywhere and will be with Kevin Harvick Inc. in 2010.(11-6-2009)
UPDATE 2: Hearing that crew chief Rick Ren’s desk was getting cleaned out this week by folks in charge at Kevin Harvick Inc., and it looks like he’s headed to KBM.(12-2-2009)
UPDATE 3: Kevin Harvick Inc. announced that Rick Ren, crew chief of the #33 truck driven by four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday, has left the organization to pursue management opportunities within the sport. Harvick said an announcement regarding Hornaday’s crew chief for 2010 could be expected as early as next week.(KHI PR)(12-3-2009)
UPDATE 4: Rick Ren told Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody Friday that he will serve as Director of Operations for the new Kyle Busch Motorsports beginning in 2010, overseeing a three-truck NASCAR Camping World Truck Series operation. “It was a multi-fold decision,” said Ren. “I’ve been on the road a lot these last few years, doing lots of driving back and forth to work. This new package works well for my wife and I. I can be closer to home, spend more time with her and still oversee the structure of this new company.” Ren said the team will hold a press conference next Friday to lay out more of its plans. He said the team’s new facility is not yet completed, but promised that it will be state of the art. He confirmed that Busch will purchase the Xpress Motorsports building, its inventory of trucks and all its contents, giving KBM one complete team almost immediately. Trucks are currently being built to field up to two more entries, if funding comes through. Ren said he and Busch “have had a really good friendship for the last three years. We have talked at the tracks and hung out a little bit away from work. We have a mutual admiration for each other, and one thing kind of led to another. I’m trying to help a young man who has a natural ability to drive racecars to build and own his own race team. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”(Sirius Speedway PR)(12-4-2009)
