They’re preparing to shuffle the crew chief deck at Joe Gibbs Racing. Multiple sources say Kyle Busch and longtime crew chief Dave Rogers will end their long-running association at season’s end, as part of a multi-divisional realignment involving both JGR and Kyle Busch Motorsports. While Rogers’ departure from the #18 team was announced in-house on Tuesday of this week, no one from JGR has commented publicly on the move. Sources close to the team say Adam Stevens will move from JGR’s Nationwide Series operation to replace Rogers atop the #18 pit box. Stevens has gone to Victory Lane five times this season with Busch, and is the obvious heir-apparent to Rogers. Stevens will be replaced in the Nationwide Series garage by Eric Phillips, who has served as crew chief on the #51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Camping World Truck Series entry. Under his guidance, the team has won eight times in 17 starts this season with Busch (six wins) and Erik Jones (two wins). He won the Truck Series owner’s championship for KBM a year ago and is solidly in the running to defend that title this season.(Godfather Motorsports).(10-3-2014)
