Jimmy Fennig is serving as Matt Kenseth's Busch Series crew chief at PIR. Credit: Autostock

Roush says Fennig will be Cup crew chief again

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Jimmy Fennig will be a crew chief for a Roush Racing Nextel Cup team again, team owner Jack Roush vowed Friday.

Fennig, who helped Kurt Busch win the 2004 Cup title, was removed as Jamie McMurray's crew chief last week and reassigned to oversee Roush's six Busch Series teams and be Matt Kenseth's crew chief in the series.

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Roush said a change became necessary after Kenseth's Busch Series crew chief, Chad Norris, was cited by NASCAR for rules violations for the third time.

That McMurray, who came to Roush Racing during the offseason from Ganassi Racing, was struggling at 21st in points gave Roush what he considered an opportunity to correct two problems.

	Jack Roush Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Roush Racing in 2006 (through seven Cup races) Driver W T-5 T-10 Rank M. Kenseth 1 4 4 2 M. Martin 0 1 5 3 J. McMurray 0 0 2 21 C. Edwards 0 2 2 22 G. Biffle 0 0 2 23

Roush said he hasn't lost faith in Fennig.

"What I have told Jimmy is that he will be a crew chief in the Nextel Cup garage sometime in the foreseeable future for one of my teams,'' Roush said.

Fennig said that hasn't been a part of his discussions with Roush, but he appreciated the vote of confidence.

"If I can come help any team in Jack's organization I'll do it,'' he said. "Jack's a racer. He wants to win, and that's the people I like to look at. Hopefully, right now I can help in Busch.''

A year ago, Fennig hinted he may retire after this season. That no longer is in the plans.

"I've got two kids I've got to get through college,'' he said. "I'll be working for a while.''

But not all the crew chiefs at Roush Racing may be, which would open the door for Fennig's return.

"Most people in their careers decide, like Mark Martin has, that they don't want to run for championships anymore and crew chiefs come to the same point," Roush said.

"I have one or two of my crew chiefs who in a short period of time, a number of years, certainly less than five, are not going to want to be crew chiefs on my Cup cars. Now what does that mean? That we'll look for other things in the organization that will challenge them.''

Fennig said he didn't take the move to Busch as a demotion.

"It's not tough [to swallow]'' he said. "Racing now is all business. Jack wanted me to come over here and help the Busch cars, and that's what my goal is.''