Widespread changes ahead for Roush Fenway Racing in 2015
MORE: See who is on the move for 2015
Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief Bob Osborne will return to the pit box in 2015, as Roush Fenway Racing officials have announced their 2015 driver/crew chief lineup for the Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series.
Osborne, who guided former RFR driver Carl Edwards to 18 Sprint Cup victories between 2004 and 2012, will serve as crew chief for Trevor Bayne and the No. 6 RFR Ford team in the Sprint Cup Series.
The move was one of two lineup changes announced involving RFR Sprint Cup teams. In addition to the return of Osborne, Nick Sandler, former lead engineer under Jimmy Fennig on the No. 99 team of Edwards, has been named crew chief for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 17 team. He replaces Mike Kelley, who will serve as car chief for the Stenhouse team.
Veteran driver Greg Biffle will once again be teamed with crew chief Greg Puccia.
In a release announcing the changes, team co-owner Jack Roush said the organization was excited about the 2015 crew chief lineup.
"Much like our driver lineup, our crew chief assembly features a quality mix of veteran leadership and youthful insight," Roush said. "We feel this lineup, combined with the addition of Kevin Kidd to oversee our Sprint Cup efforts, is a big step forward in the direction of placing our teams up front and contending week-in and week-out."
Osborne, 40, helped guide Edwards to four top-five points finishes during his previous tenure with the team, including runner-up finishes in 2008 and '11. In July of 2012, he stepped down from his role due to health reasons but has remained an important part of the RFR engineering team.
"Bob Osborne is a proven commodity," Roush said. "He will bring a strong veteran presence to the No. 6 … team, as Trevor Bayne makes the transition to full-time Sprint Cup racing."
Bayne finished sixth in points in the XFINITY Series in 2013-14 with RFR, while also running a limited Sprint Cup Series schedule with Wood Brothers Racing. The Knoxville, Tennessee native won the 2011 Daytona 500 while paired with the Wood Brothers.
Stenhouse Jr., twice a NASCAR Nationwide (now XFINITY) Series champion, has struggled since making the move to Sprint Cup in 2013. Initially paired with crew chief Scott Graves, he finished 19th in points. Kelley, who steered Stenhouse Jr. to the two titles, was brought on board for 2014, but Stenhouse fell to 27th in points.
Sandler, a native of Asheville, North Carolina, "has a strong engineering background with the company," said Roush, "and his time working hand-in-hand with Jimmy Fennig over the past few seasons will prove invaluable as the takes the helm of the No. 17."
Fennig, the long-time crew chief who stepped down at the end of '14, has been named research and development coordinator for RFR. Fennig was the 2004 championship-winning crew chief with driver Kurt Busch. Included among his 40 career wins as a crew chief are two Daytona 500 victories -- in 1988 with NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Allison and in 2012 with Matt Kenseth.
"Jimmy's experience is unparalleled in our sport and I anticipate his input in this new role will have a major influence in a positive direction across the board with all of our teams going forward," Roush said.
For the XFINITY Series, the driver/crew chief pairings of Ryan Reed and Seth Barbour, Chris Buescher and Scott Graves will remain unchanged.
Elliott Sadler, who made the move from Joe Gibbs Racing to RFR during the offseason, will be paired with Phil Gould, former crew chief for Brian Scott at Richard Childress Racing.
And Darrell Wallace Jr., third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings last season with Kyle Busch Motorsports, will be paired with crew chief Chad Norris as he runs an XFINITY Series slate for the organization.