You never know what a team or pit crew will do with a few months to think, but [Pit Talks] have an idea of who might be pitting the 4th JGR car for Carl Edwards next year. This is not official by any means and strictly rumors, but we think it’s pretty dang close to being correct.
Pit Talks hears that Front Changer Clay Robinson and Front Carrier Kevin Harris will be coming over to JGR from [Hendrick]. Both guys were on the front of Dale Jr.’s #88 last year and will be sticking together at Gibbs next year.
Pit Talks also hear that Jackman Trey Burklin will be coming back to JGR after leaving a year ago to go jack the #5 at Hendrick. Trey was the back up at JGR a few years back and jacked the NNS cars for Gibss before heading over the HMS to jack the #5 this year.
On the rear will be Changer Kip Wolfmier and Matt Ver Meer. Wolfmier was the old rear changer for the #5 car of HMS this year before being replaced by Jeremy Fuller. Matt Ver Meer was on the #88 of Dale Jr. and had been for the last few years.
The gas man will be Kenneth Purcell. Kenneth has been at JGR for years now as a NNS jackman and back up Cup guy. Kenneth won 4 championships as a jack man on the #48 and has been with JGR for the last 4 or so years. Now, he is converting to a gasman for this 4th team.(Pit Talks)(11-23-2014)
UPDATE: Earnhardt will lose his car chief as well as at least three of his over-the-wall crew members. His car chief has his blessing, considering Jason Burdett will move to JR Motorsports to crew chief an Xfinity Series car for Regan Smith. Earnhardt acknowledged Thursday that crew members leaving after their contracts expire is part of the business. ‘It is a business, and those guys saw an opportunity to do something else elsewhere,’ Earnhardt said following a NASCAR awards luncheon at the Encore in Las Vegas. ‘We had a great run together. They were the best team on pit road for the last two years. I never once felt at a disadvantage when I pulled on to pit road. It’s going to be a challenge to replace those guys.’ Hendrick Motorsports has several over-the-wall crew members on contract and training to replace those leaving. ‘We’ve got a lot of great potential crew members that are training every day,’ Earnhardt said. ‘I was over there Tuesday, and they were working their guts out. We’ve got guys in the wings ready to move up, ready for that challenge. It’s going to be a difficult challenge to replace the talent we have because those guys were amazing.’ In addition to having new over-the-wall crew members and a new crew chief, Earnhardt will have a new car chief. Travis Mack, car chief this year for Greg Ives on the Nationwide Series championship car driven by Chase Elliott, will move with Ives to the Hendrick Cup car with Earnhardt. ‘Burdett has been looking for that opportunity for a really long time,’ Earnhardt said. ‘The deck sort of got shuffled there at the last minute and it opened the door for Burdett and it also opened the door for Travis Mack. ‘¦ We were excited, really, to give both of them the opportunity they wanted. Burdett wanted the opportunity to crew chief and Mack wanted the opportunity to move into a car-chief role at the Cup level. So both of these guys get what they want.’ Earnhardt emphasized that having engineer Kevin Meendering returning is the key to having a smooth transition with the crew-chief change. Ives and Mack will get their first chance to work with Earnhardt in their new roles Tuesday and Wednesday at a Goodyear tire test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.(Sporting News)
