Hornish's crew chief named competition director

Sam Hornish Jr.'s crew chief is moving into the front office at Penske Racing as the organization continues to search for funding for its third driver for next season.

The Penske team announced Tuesday that Travis Geisler, Hornish's crew chief for the past two and a half seasons, has been moved to the position of competition director, responsible for coordinating the team's NASCAR efforts between crew chiefs and engineers. He will report to Michael Nelson, Penske's vice president for operations.

Geisler's change of responsibility does not affect the status of Hornish, who has been in limbo at Penske since the primary car sponsor on his No. 77 car, Mobil 1, departed for Stewart-Haas Racing. Penske vice president Jonathan Gibson said the organization continues to search for ways to keep Hornish in the fold.

"The competition director role was one that we felt was a needed addition to our NASCAR organization, and we are confident that Travis has the skills to be successful based on his experience," Gibson wrote in an email. "We are still actively looking for opportunities for Sam within the Cup and Nationwide Series with us. As we secure an opportunity, we will consider whether Travis is the right candidate for the crew chief position relative to other candidates."

Penske has gone through a sponsorship shuffle that will alter the look of the organization in 2011. Shell/Pennzoil has come aboard to back the team's primary driver, Kurt Busch, in what will now be the No. 22 car, while Brad Keselowski slides behind the wheel of the outfit's most recognized brand, the No. 2 Miller Lite car made famous by Rusty Wallace. The team also lost Mobil 1 and Verizon, the latter of which led to Nationwide Series driver Justin Allgaier's departure for Turner Motorsports, the former keeping Hornish's situation uncertain.

Geisler is a former go-kart driver with a mechanical engineering degree from Vanderbilt. He competed in both ARCA and Nationwide, and joined Penske as a race engineer on Ryan Newman's old No. 12 car. He became crew chief on the No. 77 in August of 2008.

"His experience as a crew chief, along with his engineering background, will be a valuable resource as a liaison between our current crew chiefs and our engineering department," Nelson said in a statement. "This is a move that will provide us with depth and improved efficiency as we move into the 2011 season."

Related:
Penske's Hornish may return to Indy 500