Wally Brown spent the majority of the season as crew chief for Carl Edwards. Credit: Autostock

Roush crew chief Brown plans leave of absence

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- On Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, team owner Jack Roush announced major crew chief changes for his 2007 Nextel Cup teams -- but Wally Brown wasn't included.

On Saturday, Brown said that once the season ends, he may take as much as a one-month leave of absence from the sport and return to his family's home in Bethlehem, Pa.

	Wally Brown will finish out the season with Jamie McMurray and the No. 26. Credit: Autostock
	BROWN TO 26 Roush Racing announced Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray will reunite with their former crew chiefs, effective at Phoenix.  •   Complete story, click here •   Roush shakeup: Tryson moving to lead No. 16 •   Lack of stability at Roush a concern heading to '07 Garage PassRoush reshuffles crew chief NASCAR TodayPit crew changes at Phoenix Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Brown said he discussed with Roush more than a month ago his desire not to continue as a crew chief next season, despite achieving 16 top-10 finishes this season and a 10-position advance in the standings in 27 races with driver Carl Edwards.

For Brown, family took the checkered flag over his career in this race when he made Roush aware of his decision.

"They offered me a position," Brown said of Roush Racing. "I could have been the engineering manager, which was my previous job, but that's another position that just dictates a lot of time and a lot of effort.

"It's so competitive, that you've got to work really, really hard and I don't want to hold anyone back. I'd rather take a step back and concentrate on what I need to concentrate on."

This weekend at Phoenix, Brown is working with Jamie McMurray, driver of Roush's No. 26 Ford. McMurray said Brown, who plans to finish the season with his team, was assisting designated crew chief Chad Norris.

On Friday, Roush said Brown's decision, which came at the end of his current contract, was somewhat baffling to him.

"He made a decision that he didn't want to be the 99 crew chief going forward and he was going to seek opportunities elsewhere," Roush said. "I'm not sure I totally understand what his motivations are, but clearly he had the prerogative and I respect his right to go do what he wants."

"I love working for Jack," Brown said. "Jack's a great guy -- awesome to deal with and right up there with the top few people I enjoy working with. And I like crew chiefing, but it's just that right now, I can't do it.

"The crew chief thing, for me, was just not my cup of tea, overall. Typically, I [thought] I wanted to be a crew chief because all the technical things I wanted to contribute, in order to get them on the car I'd have to be the crew chief [laughing].

"But overall, I don't have to be a crew chief [to be happy], at all."

And while Brown, the 1995 Widener University engineering graduate who previously worked at Ken Schrader Racing and Penske Racing South, said he tremendously enjoyed the five years he worked for Roush, his move was easier than the owner implied.

Brown said he made the decision to step back from the rigors of a top-level crew chief to give himself the flexibility to spend time with his family -- particularly his stepfather, with whom he raced on Pennsylvania dirt tracks earlier in his career.

"Really, it's pretty simple," Brown said. "I have a lot of personal issues I want to attend to, and working seven days a week and crew chiefing takes so much time, to be dedicated and to run up front, and I'm not willing to do that right now.

"So I really can't crew chief. I just need to be able to step back and get into the engineering and kind of be in a role where I can do other things but still contribute."

Brown went to work for Roush in 2002, as the engineer on Mark Martin's No. 6 Ford and had risen to the position of Roush Racing's head engineer in 2004 when Bob Osborne moved into Edwards' crew chief's role.

Brown said he thrived in his engineer's role, and while he declined to discuss his next position, he said he knew what he wanted to be doing at Speedweeks 2007 in Daytona.

"I really enjoyed the engineering side, working on the cars and making them faster," Brown said. "I get satisfaction in making a test piece, testing it and then making it better and making the cars go faster.

"I don't even have to be at the track to see them perform, I get that personal satisfaction [knowing what I've done] and I don't need to be at the track making pit calls, which to me is not as big a deal."

But in the spring, Brown was paired with Edwards when the series headed to Phoenix, after another crew chief shuffle was initiated. Osborne went to the No. 26 team in an attempt to improve its performance.

"It was fun to work with Carl, because we've known each other for so long," Brown said. "I keep hearing we didn't make the Chase and we didn't win a race -- which is all true.

"But at the same time we ran really, really well and I know we had at least a couple second places [actually three], and we've got a lot of points [second-highest total overall] in the Chase, so we've been running real well and we just missed it a little bit."

Friday's announcement was made to begin preparations for 2007, a tumultuous time for Roush when Martin will leave the organization after 19 seasons and David Ragan will step into that car to run for Raybestos Rookie of the Year.

Brown said stepping aside for the last two races was simply the move of a team player.

"Basically it came down to this: I want to do something different next year, for personal and career reasons," Brown said. "I want Carl to do the best that he can, because he's a championship driver -- so anything I can do to help him progress, so next year he can come out of the box and run for the championship, I'm more than happy to do."

Brown said that he would consider a crew chief's position again, but wouldn't feel there was a gap in his career if he never held the role again, either.

"I could see that, down the road if the opportunity came up and it was in an environment where I could still contribute to the cars and be more on the technical side of it," Brown said. "It would be a place where a crew chief is more technically involved as opposed to all the logistics and the other stuff."