Changes to take effect immediately for both teams
Ty Dillon, currently second in the NASCAR XFINITY Series points standings, will have a new crew chief calling the shots for his team when the series returns to action next week at Daytona International Speedway.
Nick Harrison, previously crew chief for the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet, will now be heading up Dillon’s No. 3 team. Harrison replaces Danny Stockman, who will move over to RCR’s No. 33 entry that has featured Austin Dillon, Paul Menard and Brandon Jones behind the wheel this season.
“Like many teams this time of year, we are making some mid-season personnel changes to improve the overall performance of our teams this season,” Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of Richard Childress Racing, said in a statement issued by the organization.
“This will also give us an opportunity to get an early look at what our personnel lineup might look like for the 2016 season.”
Ty Dillon trails Chris Buescher (Roush Fenway Racing) by 29 points through this season’s first 14 races. A one-time winner in the XFINITY Series, Dillon has 10 top-10 finishes but has yet to score a victory this year.
Older brother Austin Dillon has made 10 starts in the No. 33 with Harrison at the helm, and has won twice – at Las Vegas and Charlotte.
He currently competes for RCR in the Sprint Cup Series on a full-time basis and thus earns no driver points in the XFINITY Series.
Ty Dillon, 23, is hoping to make the move up to a full-time Cup ride as early as next season. He has made four starts in the series this year and six overall.
RCR also fields the No. 2 for driver Brian Scott and the No. 62 for Brendan Gaughan in the XFINITY Series as well as its three-team Sprint Cup effort with Dillon, Menard and Ryan Newman.
Wednesday’s move comes little more than a week after RCR officials named Richard “Slugger” Labbe crew chief for Austin Dillon‘s Sprint Cup team. Labbe, who had headed up the group’s research and development effort, replaced Gil Martin. Martin was expected to fill Labbe’s R&D role.