Silly Season is in full swing for Sprint Cup crew chiefs. Drew Blickensderfer resigned as Jeff Burton’s crew chief on Sunday. Blickensderfer, 36, will return to the Ford camp as the crew chief for Marcos Ambrose and the #9 team at Richard Petty Motorsports. Given Blickensderfer’s nine-year tenure at Roush Fenway Racing, he will be a valuable conduit for RPM with its technical partner. ‘Blick’ replaces Mike Ford, who joined RPM at Talladega Superspeedway in May as Aric Almirola’s crew chief. Before the Chase for the Sprint Cup began, Ford, 42, swapped teams with veteran crew chief Todd Parrott and began leading the #9 crew with Ambrose. Ford said on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway that he worked this season sans contract with RPM but had ‘options’ for 2013 including working with BK Racing. Sources confirmed that Ford has been offered a crew chief’s post at BKR. Luke Lambert will revive his role with Burton and the #31 Caterpillar crew at Richard Childress Racing starting in 2013. Shane Wilson will be interim crew chief for the final three races of the season.(Fox Sports)(10-29-2012)
UPDATE: Championship-winning Richard Childress Racing crew chief Shane Wilson will replace Drew Blickensderfer at the helm of the #31 Caterpillar Chevy team with driver Jeff Burton for the final three races of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. ‘I want to thank Drew for all of his effort with the No. 31 Caterpillar team this season,’ said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. ‘He’s a great crew chief and I can ‘t say enough about his dedication to RCR. Making the move now, before the season is over, gives Drew some additional time to pursue other opportunities. Luke Lambert, who currently calls the shots for RCR’s NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship point standings leading #2 team with Elliott Sadler, will take over the #31 team crew chief duties for the 2013 season. Lambert served as interim crew chief for the #31 team in 2011.(RCR)(10-29-2012)
