For Grubb, a new home but familiar surroundings

RICHMOND, Va. -- Darian Grubb could have left two years ago. He moved to the top of Jimmie Johnson's pit box on an interim basis in 2006, after regular crew chief Chad Knaus was busted for illegal car modifications and suspended for four races. Johnson won half of those events -- including the Daytona 500 -- and Grubb's phone began to ring with offers from other organizations trying to lure him away.

But Grubb, a college-trained engineer and a company man to the core, didn't want to leave Hendrick Motorsports. That was, until Tony Stewart called, offering the Virginia native an opportunity to strike out on his own and continue his association with the Hendrick program at the same time.

Stewart on Friday announced that he had signed Grubb, currently the engineering manager for the Hendrick teams of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears, to be the crew chief on the No. 14 car at Stewart-Haas Racing beginning next year. The 32-year-old Virginia Tech graduate will move to a new shop, but face some familiar surroundings given that Stewart's team will use engines and chassis manufactured by the Hendrick organization.

"I've never wanted to step outside the Hendrick Motorsports organization until this opportunity came up," Grubb said at Richmond International Raceway. "I'm extremely excited to basically be able to continue my Hendrick knowledge, and just be able to continue to use these chassis and engines and everything going forward, and being able to build that organizational strength outside of Hendrick Motorsports. This opportunity is a great chance for me to be able to step out and almost go out on my own."

He steps into big shoes. The end of this season will bring the end of the longest active driver-crew chief relationship, the bond between Stewart and Greg Zipadelli that goes back to Stewart's first days at Joe Gibbs Racing in 1999. The pair won two championships together, but Zipadelli also acted as equal parts mentor, protector, confidante and sounding board for a driver who's endured his share of tumult on and off the racetrack. It helps that Grubb and Zipadelli are good friends, and that Stewart's future crew chief is able to stop his current crew chief and pick his brain whenever he needs to.

"Anytime you have somebody who has a 10-year relationship, you're kind of foolish if you don't go talk to that person, to just get a feel for how things go," Grubb said. "A 10-year relationship, it's going to be hard to build that history up and recreate that right off the bat. But Zippy's a very good guy. I consider him a good friend of mine and a good co-worker in the garage. It's one of those things where, I won't have a hard time giving him a call, I don't think, if I have an issue or something I want to talk to him about." (Continued)