Inside the Halls of Petty: Three times a crew chief

Hey, Petty fans. This is Bill Wilburn, crew chief of the No. 45 Wells Fargo/Marathon/Tire Kingdom Dodge. Over the past three races I have had the opportunity to work with three outstanding drivers, Chad McCumbee, Kyle Petty and John Andretti.

Chad McCumbee made his Nextel Cup debut at Pocono. John Andretti returned to Petty Enterprises at Michigan. Kyle pulled his driving/broadcasting double-duty at Infineon. (watch video) Each one of these men is dynamic in their own way, but they each like different setups. Some of you may be wondering how a crew chief approaches a rotating lineup of drivers. It takes hard work, but it has made me a better crew chief in the process.

Recycle for Victory

Sprint Nextel has announced the launch of Recycle for Victory, a wireless-recycling program that benefits the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

• Complete story, click here
• Victory Junction Gang Camp

The most important thing in working with multiple drivers is communication. If there is a breakdown in communication then, more often than not, the wrong adjustments will be made to the car. The teams that are running up front have been together for several seasons. Those crew chiefs almost instinctively know what their drivers need.

Kyle and I are starting to find that because we have been working together for a while now. He is articulate and he paints a picture for me as he is talking.

Chad is a driver that is far beyond his years. He has a very good racing vocabulary and that made it easy to adjust on the car for him. One of my regrets from this year will be that the Pocono 500 didn't go all 200 laps because we were looking at a top-15 finish in his first start. I would have been proud of that.

John, being the veteran racer that he is, keeps his comments short and to the point. He is very clear on what he needs and he gives me enough information for me to do my job.

When you are a crew chief in the Nextel Cup Series, or Busch and Craftsman Truck series for that matter, you tend to have to take on the role of a psychiatrist during the race. Drivers are still people and people are different. There are drivers that need to be constantly assured they are doing a good job. (Continued)