HOF names Boyer as crew chief for Yeley, No. 96 car

CORNELIUS, N.C. -- Hall of Fame Racing officials announced Tuesday that Steve Boyer will serve as crew chief for driver J.J. Yeley and the No. 96 Toyota beginning with the Goody's Cool Orange 500 Sprint Cup race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Boyer, who has worked within the engineering department at Hall of Fame Racing since December 2007, takes over for Brandon Thomas, who had served as crew chief since October 2006.

J.J. Yeley

• Community
• Superstore

"Steve has earned the respect and trust of J.J. and the team in his short tenure here," said Tom Garfinkel, co-owner of Hall of Fame Racing. "Jeff [Moorad] and I are looking forward to having him in a more significant leadership role. He has a tremendous amount of experience that will be valuable to J.J., Hall of Fame Racing and the No. 96 Toyota."

Boyer is no stranger to the top of the pit box, as he was Sterling Marlin's crew chief at Chip Ganassi Racing for the final six races of 2004 and the entire 2005 Sprint Cup season. In 2007, he served as crew chief for Ganassi driver Scott Lagasse Jr. in four ARCA/REMAX Series races, where the duo scored three top-five finishes highlighted by a win at Kansas Speedway. Boyer also served as crew chief for driver Bryan Clauson in the ARCA race at USA Speedway in Lakeland, Fla., where he guided the development driver to a strong second-place finish.

"I'm excited for the opportunity to work with J.J. and the No. 96 Toyota," Boyer said. "We've got a great group of people at Hall of Fame Racing and we plan on making the DLP car a contender every week."

In addition to his crew chief duties, Boyer worked in a variety of roles while at Ganassi from January 2001 to December 2007. He served as race engineer in the Sprint Cup Series with Jason Leffler in 2001 before moving to the same position with Marlin from 2002 to 2004. From 2006 to 2007, Boyer led the [new car] research initiative and served as the team's senior group leader, where he oversaw all technical innovation while working with the driver development programs of Juan Montoya, Lagasse and Clauson. Boyer also served as interim team manager at Ganassi from April to September 2006.

Prior to his time at Ganassi, Boyer spent nine years with the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. From 1991 to 1995, he worked as a development engineer at the Lincoln, Neb., plant with a focus on automotive belts. From 1996 to 2000 he was based at Goodyear's Akron, Ohio, headquarters as a staff development engineer working on the tire programs for NASCAR, CART and the IRL IndyCar Series.

Boyer, 36, is a native of North Platte, Neb., and earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in December 1993 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before obtaining a Master's Degree in Science and Engineering in December 2000 from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

He resides in Cornelius, N.C., with his wife Abbey and their two daughters, Allie and Kylie.