Ganassi to change Busch crew chiefs for Montoya

CONCORD, N.C. -- Possible performance issues are calling for team officials at Chip Ganassi Racing to make a crew chief swap in its Busch Series operation this weekend at the New Hampshire International Speedway, team sources told NASCAR.COM.

Ganassi officials met Tuesday and will make an official announcement Wednesday.

First for Juan

Juan Montoya won his first Nextel Cup Series race on Sunday at Infineon Raceway.

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Crew chief Brad Parrott, a long-time notable hired to transition driver Juan Montoya from open-wheel racing to stock cars, will move to the No. 41 of Reed Sorenson. Brian Pattie, also a seasoned crew chief who steered Sorenson to his first series win at Nashville Speedway in 2005, will crew chief Montoya's No. 42 machine.

"Since its inception, our Busch Series program has experienced some great accomplishments in a short period of time. We've had some highlights this year, as well, but both teams are lacking consistency," said team managing director John Fernandez. "Our Busch program exists to develop our drivers, so we're hoping this move will get the teams' performance to where we think it should be right now and to prepare for the up-and-coming racers who will be in those cars later this year and seasons ahead."

Parrott led Montoya -- who scored his first Cup victory last weekend at the road course in Sonoma -- to his first Busch victory earlier this season in Mexico, also a road course.

In his stock-car debut at Talladega Superspeedway in the ARCA Series, Montoya finished third under Parrott's watch.

In his Busch Series debut with Parrott, Montoya went to Memphis Motorsports Park and the former Formula One star had to qualify on time, started ninth and finished 11th at the short track.

Since his first Busch Series victory in Mexico, Montoya has had three finishes outside the top 20 and finished in the top 10 twice. The team is 23rd in the point standings.

Sorenson and Pattie have struggled so far this season and are 39th in the Busch Series point standings with one top-10 finish, although Sorenson has just entered 10 of the 17 races this season. Still, the year is a contrast from where the Sorenson and Pattie started in 2005.

Sorenson narrowly missed rookie of the year honors and finished fourth in the overall standings in '05. In 2006, the team continued to progress and finished 10th in the standings with five top-five finishes.

Pattie's start with Ganassi came in 2004 serving as the crew chief for the team's limited Busch Series schedule after a long career with Joe Nemechek and NEMCO Motorsports.