Not even two weeks ago, Chandler Smith picked up his second victory of the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, clinching Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the process. After the race, he took a few pictures, talked to some media members and humbly left the track. After all, it wasn’t his night to celebrate — Ben Rhodes, the night’s third-place finisher, claimed the ’21 series title and, well, did enough celebrating for the both of them.
Even still, Smith wasn’t in the mood for relishing in his accomplishments. In his eyes, he fell short this season.
“I didn’t really celebrate, to be honest,” Smith said Monday during a call with reporters. “Happy I got the Rookie of the Year and happy about the win, but … how do I say this in the most polite way for myself? I expected myself to win these races. I was very disappointed that I didn’t get the wins throughout the season; circumstances weren’t really great throughout the season to be honest with you.
“When we finally were good, something happened. And any time we weren’t good, nothing happened. So, just being honest. Getting those two wins was definitely a confidence boost, because you have those doubters and they still tell you that.”
It’s easy to understand Smith’s high expectations entering the year. For starters, he’s driving the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota — that alone sets a driver up for success. Smith kind of burst onto the national series scene, though, in 16 starts scattered across 2019 and ’20, finishing in the top five in half of them. He looked like a prospect ready to break out in a big way.
With a full-time ride lined up for ’21 in one of the series’ best trucks, it seemed all the puzzle pieces were falling together for Smith to compete for the title while riding his way to several victories.
The first race of the season fell right in line with that as well, with Smith leading a race-high 22 laps at Daytona International Speedway … before a tire issue derailed his day for a ninth-place finish. An eight-race stint with an average finish of 21.875 followed, with Smith only landing in the top 10 once (Richmond Raceway) in that stretch all the way into May.
Things did turn around a bit from there, with Smith compiling seven top 10s and a pair of wins (Bristol Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway) in the remaining 13 races, staying alive in the playoffs until Martinsville Speedway’s Round of 8 elimination race before seeing his title hopes run dry. One race removed from a Championship 4 appearance after a tumultuous regular season isn’t bad, but Smith made no bones about the fact this year didn’t meet his — or his Cup champion boss’ — standards.
“B-minus is what I would grade (our season),” said Smith, who noted his plans for next year are being finalized and should be announced in the next week or so. “Just because, realistically, going into the season and halfway through the season I knew we were capable and had the resources and everything at our disposal to win a championship, but we just weren’t all clicking. We just weren’t consistent as far as showing up at the race track and being good, and when we did show up and were good there were too many mistakes being made. Granted, we had the rookie stripe. So I guess it was acceptable but in my eyes I still didn’t accept that. I’m glad we picked it up the last half of the season and the consistency started coming, the results started to show a little bit. I’m still not happy with the first half of my season to be completely honest with you.”
Smith mentioned the team started to hit its stride toward the later part of the season in a similar fashion to the year before as “me and Danny’s (Stockman, crew chief) relationship got better and he started to trust my input more and I started to trust his input more and the team started clicking.”
Now with his “first full-time year in anything in a very long time” under his belt, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year trophy soon to be added to his collection and a pair of race victories in the record books, Smith is focused on his super late model offseason schedule, which includes the prestigious Snowball Derby, which he placed fourth in last year.
The 19-year-old’s 2021 regular season is going to stick with him all through until ’22, it seems. And if it does, expect him to come out firing in his sophomore campaign and right the wrongs from a season of missed opportunities to be among the title favorites once again just a few short months from now.
On Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET, The NASCAR Foundation will reveal the winner of the 11th annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award live on NASCAR’s YouTube Channel.
The Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award, named in honor of the foundation’s late founder and chairwoman, Betty Jane France, recognizes NASCAR fans who volunteer for children’s causes in their racing communities. Each finalist receives a minimum $25,000 donation for their organization with the overall winner receiving a $100,000 donation from The NASCAR Foundation to further their efforts.
The 11th annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award finalists include:
— Erin Collins of Dallas, Texas, a volunteer with the Dallas Hearing Foundation, a non-profit organization that offers medical and surgical treatment, hearing technologies, speech and hearing rehabilitation and education support to those in financial need. For the past 12 years, Collins has dedicated her time to serving kids living with hearing loss, initially volunteering in a fundraising capacity for the organization and eventually creating a youth program to provide a safe space where the kids can be surrounded by peers also living with hearing loss.
— Jaeleen Davis of Midland, Michigan, a volunteer with Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids of Michigan, a non-profit organization that provides wigs and support services to children ages 3 to 18 throughout the state of Michigan. Davis has volunteered for 13 years with the organization, raising awareness and funds through her Miss America platform, which has also allowed her to introduce bills in Michigan and Ohio to get insurance companies to cover the cost of children’s wigs.
— Jeff Harmon of Louisville, Kentucky, a volunteer with Down Syndrome of Louisville, an organization that supports, educates and advocates for individuals with down syndrome, enabling them to reach their full potential. Having served in both coaching and fundraising roles over the last 18 years, Harmon’s passion and dedication for volunteering has touched hundreds of kids and families and the communities where they live.
— Beverly Hodsdon of Exeter, New Hampshire, a volunteer with Richie McFarland Children’s Center, an early childhood program that helps young children reach their full developmental potential while supporting their families throughout the process. Hodsdon has been a pillar of the organization for 17 years, devoting her time to help in different capacities as a board member, creating fundraising events, bringing the largest donor of the organization and providing graphic design and marketing services.
As NASCAR inches closer to the 2022 Busch Light Clash in February at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Next Gen testing will continue on Wednesday and Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Live streaming will be available on NASCAR’s YouTube and Facebook channels (11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Wednesday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Thursday).
These testing sessions follow the series’ short-track test in October at Bowman Gray Stadium that consisted of a Goodyear tire test and generational star power turning laps at the historic venue. Wednesday will mark the fourth time the Next Gen car has appeared on the oval layout at the Concord, North Carolina, track. Cup Series champions Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. took part in the track’s test last year, Busch returned earlier this year, and wheel-force testing was conducted there in June.
This week’s session will feature a bigger roster of drivers and teams, as organizations are beginning to prepare for the 2022 season. The two-day organizational test allows teams to field their own cars, limiting entrants to one car for one- or two-car teams and two cars for three- or four-car teams. Recent changes to the Next Gen car’s structure include a position change for the exhaust and new slots on the rear windshield to reduce the temperature in the cockpit.
On-track activity is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Wednesday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Thursday. Each session is open to the media, and NASCAR.com will have a full report.
BRASELTON, Ga. — Even as he walked around the IMSA paddock filled with sportscar enthusiasts at the Motul Petit Le Mans event over the weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Chad Knaus was smiling and accepting congratulations for a job well done in his full-time gig — vice president of competition for the NASCAR Cup Series champion Hendrick Motorsports team.
A week ago, Knaus was celebrating with champagne and confetti after Hendrick driver Kyle Larson wrapped up a 10-win season with a championship bow. This weekend, Knaus led his previous Hendrick champion driver Jimmie Johnson as the pair wrapped up an IMSA Michelin Endurance Challenge season — competing in the four endurance races and finishing fourth on Saturday.
Johnson, whose former No. 48 NASCAR team took over Larson’s 2021 No. 5 effort, was genuinely happy for his friends and their success. Fresh off his inaugural IndyCar season, the seven-time NASCAR champ was an integral part in that group’s inaugural season together under Cliff Daniels in 2020 — Johnson’s final year of NASCAR competition.
In particular, Johnson said he was proud of second-year NASCAR Cup Series crew chief Daniels’ accomplishment leading the Larson team. Johnson has known Daniels for years through their time at Hendrick — when Daniels was working on SIM data and various engineering positions — long before Daniels began leading Cup teams.
“I’m so thankful for the time I had at HMS,” Johnson said. “I’m so thankful for everything they provided and gave to me and I know along the way I was able to help in many ways, too.
“I think bringing Cliff Daniels into the crew chief position was a good move. We had a lot of great guys on that team already that knew Cliff, but they jelled and we had a great year in 2020 to kind of grow the team. And Cliff kept adjusting.
“Larson comes in and is on top of his game and they have just an epic year with 10 wins and the championship. Truly happy for any and all those folks and probably carrying a bit more pride for Cliff just because of the history I have with him and understand the journey he’s been on to be an elite-level crew chief and he’s able to do that in his second year.”
Knaus, who left the pit box this season to lead Hendrick’s overall technical efforts, was equally as proud for the work put in and the trophy it produced. But for him, it was also about raising the overall game of Hendrick, which put two drivers — Larson and 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott — in the Championship 4 and had all four drivers — including William Byron and Alex Bowman — qualify for the playoffs via wins.
“Obviously, with the 5 (Larson), I was extremely happy that they won and I was super proud of them,” Knaus said. “What an amazing year they had of working together and competing at a super high level and frankly, probably deserved the championship more than most.
“The 9-car (Elliott) was extremely fast all year long. They had some hiccups along the way, but they made the final four and they were running very competitively. And then you have the 24 (Byron) that was running well and had some issues but really a strong series during the playoffs and then unfortunately the 48 car (Bowman) that won Martinsville a week ago and then went to Phoenix and ran like 15th all day.
“You really only feel as good as your worst car. But I’m very proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and their contribution throughout the year. It was really, really high and we really wanted this one badly, obviously.
“To be able to close out the Gen-6 era with a lot of wins and a championship and welcome Kyle to the organization and be able to do it in this fashion was a really special year for us all.”
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour confirmed an additional date for Thompson Speedway on the 2022 schedule, with a second visit to the Connecticut track planned for Saturday, Oct. 8.
The 0.625-mile track already had one confirmed date on the schedule — Aug. 17, a Wednesday event — and now adds another. There are now 15 confirmed events slated for 2022.
The storied short track has hosted 148 Whelen Modified Tour races, starting in 1985. The track also hosted a pair of NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour races in 2011 and 2012.
NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2021 inductee Mike Stefanik holds the all-time wins record in the series at Thompson with 15 victories. Ted Christopher is second with 13, while reigning and three-time series champion Justin Bonsignore has 12 victories there.
Bonsignore also holds the record for most consecutive NWMT victories at Thompson with six straight in 2018 and 2019. Richie Evans (the first four NWMT races held at Thompson in 1985), Jeff Fuller (1991-1992), Steve Park (1995-1996), Stefanik (1998) and Christopher (2010-2011) are all next with four consecutive wins.
In total, 36 drivers have recorded a NWMT race win at Thompson Speedway. The most recent winners in 2020 were Ron Silk and Craig Lutz.
Daniel Suarez has driven for a different NASCAR Cup Series organization in each of the last four seasons, a nomadic career arc of whistle-stops with teams large and small.
This year, Suarez has found solid footing after his first campaign with Trackhouse Racing, gained a new teammate for 2022 in Ross Chastain, and carved out his spot as a thoughtful voice and contributor within the growing start-up team. For the first time in a long time, the 29-year-old driver has no need to pack his bags for a new destination in the offseason.
“I don’t think people really understand the difference that it makes, every single time that you have to start from zero again with people, with mechanics, with engineers, that communication. It’s almost like resetting the clock,” said Suarez, set for his sixth Cup Series season next year and his second in Trackhouse’s No. 99 Chevrolet. “If you if you think about it, all these things that are very, very successful, I mean, just go back and look at the Championship 4 right now. All these guys, they’ve been working together for a long time, for years. So they know each other very well and they have built a team, they have gotten the best people possible, and I haven’t been able to do that since I went to Cup.
“So I feel like now with Trackhouse, I’m able to build that slowly and I feel like we’re heading in the right direction.”
One year in, there’s modest performance to show for the team’s first go-around — highlighted by a season-best fourth-place result on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt. But the organization — headed by car owner Justin Marks and megastar partner Pitbull — has made an aggressive push for its next chapter with its summertime purchase of Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR assets.
Suarez will remain at the center of that evolution to a two-car team, with Chastain joining in the No. 1 Chevy for next season, and he intends to remain an active contributor to the team’s direction.
“I guess what gets me most excited is just how the team is growing with me, and I’ve been able to influence how I can make the team better for me,” Suarez said before last weekend’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway. “You know, I’ve never had that before. Pretty much in the past, ‘this is what you got and good luck’ and that was it. And if it was good, great; then if it was not so good, too bad. But that was it. My voice wasn’t loud enough to make adjustments.
“I feel like with Trackhouse, they listened to me a lot, and we’ve been making a few adjustments here and there and we’ve been growing together, and I really like that a lot. I feel like the future of Trackhouse Racing is extremely bright and I’m very, very happy to be along for the ride with them.”
Chastain’s relationship with Marks pre-dates CGR’s transition to Trackhouse ownership. Both shared driving duties in the Camping World Truck Series for team owner Stacy Compton in the 2011 season, when Chastain made his national-series debut. And both went on to win Xfinity Series races for Ganassi — Marks at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2016 and Chastain at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two years later.
So their careers have been intertwined — or entangled, with an emphasis on “tangle,” depending on the viewpoint.
“He’s still the same guy, and that’s what’s crazy,” said Chastain, who netted three top-five runs last season. “I told him years ago that he was too nice. He’s too nice to race in the Xfinity Series on those road courses, man. He’d be so fast and then we’d all just run him over. I’ve wrecked him, and he’s been wrecked by half a dozen other guys and girls. I told him then, and so I’m glad that he’s on my side, and I’m glad that he didn’t hold a grudge because they very easily could have written me off because I crashed him — several times — just driving over my head. So he’s still the same good guy that he was back then.”
Marks has made it clear that he is not a fly-by-night investor into the sport, positioning Trackhouse for the longer haul. While others have come into NASCAR with big plans, big dreams and more talk than action, Marks has intended to make good on the team’s mission.
In addition to the on-track product, Trackhouse has made strides in the entertainment industry and the philanthropic space, striving to reach a broader audience. So far, Suarez said it has been more than just buzzwords and unfulfilled hype.
“Sometimes, in the sport and in life in general, sometimes you don’t really know when somebody is going to actually do what they what they tell you they’re going to do, right?” Suarez said. “They promise you something, you don’t really know if they’re gonna do it or not. Justin, he is one of those guys that he actually delivers more than what he promised me the first time.
“You know, a lot of people were calling me dumb for trusting another new team at the beginning of the year, and I guess I don’t look that dumb right now, right?”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As the 2021 season comes to an end, NASCAR prepares for a return to Nashville, Tennessee, from Nov. 30 through Dec. 2 to host its annual Champion’s Week celebration.
The NASCAR Awards held Dec. 2 at the Music City Center will formally crown this season’s champions, as fellow drivers, industry luminaries and celebrities descend upon the heart of downtown Nashville for the first time in two years to celebrate a memorable 2021 season.
In addition to the Cup Series champion, NASCAR will honor the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series champions in the largest awards show to date. In addition, the champions of the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, ARCA Menards Series West and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, as well as the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion, have been invited to the NASCAR national series events in Nashville to celebrate their titles.
In addition to the NASCAR Awards, the streets of Nashville will once again host the “Burnouts on Broadway presented by DoorDash” on Dec. 1 from 6:30 p.m. CT to 8 p.m. CT, an event where all drivers will look to leave their mark – literally – on lower Broadway under the neon-lit streets.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to return to Nashville to celebrate the champions of our sport,” said Pete Jung, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at NASCAR. “Although we weren’t able to celebrate in person in Nashville last year, we saw the city’s energy and passion for motorsports on full display when we came to Nashville Superspeedway earlier this year. Nashville welcomed us with open arms in 2019 and we’re looking forward to another unforgettable Champion’s Week in Music City.”
The formal postseason NASCAR Awards is a tradition that stretches back to 1981, when the event was held in New York City. It relocated to Las Vegas in 2009 and then called Nashville its home for the first time in 2019.
For more information on Champion’s Week, including a more detailed schedule, please visit www.nascar.com/championsweek.
Doug Richert will forever go down in NASCAR Cup Series history as the first crew chief to win a championship in his debut season in stock-car racing’s premier series.
* at 20 years old, the youngest championship-winning crew chief in Cup annals, and at an age when he wasn’t even able to legally buy a drink.
* with Dale Earnhardt behind the wheel, winning the first of what would become a record-tying seven Cup championships.
* having taken over for Jake Elder, who quit as Earnhardt’s crew chief after 13 races into the 31-race season in 1980. Richert then kept Earnhardt in first place in the standings for the remaining 18 races, including guiding “The Intimidator” to three of his five wins and 12 of his 19 top-five finishes that season.
Crew chief Doug Richert and Rod Osterlund in 1980 (Photo: ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
On Nov. 15, it will be 41 years since Earnhardt and Richert combined to win the 1980 Cup championship for former owner Rod Osterlund.
While it has been more than four decades, it seems like just yesterday for the now 61-year-old Richert.
“That topic comes up a lot, because it’s one of the big highlights in my career, and especially being with the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.,” Richert told NASCAR.com. “Something made Jake (Elder) mad during the middle of the season, and he just left the team.
“So, I was just kind of like the next guy in line, they asked me if I’d do it and I was like, ‘Yeah, OK, sure.’ Now, I’m the guy that pushes the button and talks during the race, not him (Elder). I didn’t really think much about it, we just did it.
“It wasn’t like I was worried. It happened and it worked out. Dale and I would call each other to discuss setups, talk about what we’re going to do, what we’re going to show up with. Dale had a lot of input in it. We got along, got together, the thing just fell together and we ended up winning the championship, which was awesome. So yeah, a big, big highlight in my career.”
While it was a great pairing, it was also the start of a long and close friendship that continued for more than 20 years before Earnhardt was tragically killed in a crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.
In a sense, Richert and Earnhardt became almost like brothers. The pair literally came out of nowhere to beat the best in NASCAR in the 1980 campaign, including Cale Yarborough (who Earnhardt beat by a mere 19 points), Richard Petty, Benny Parsons, Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison, Terry Labonte, Harry Gant, Neil Bonnett and Richard Childress.
“We all raced, we all wanted to win, we all wanted to do good – and the championship was the bonus,” Richert said. “That’s what we all worked for.”
Even though it has been more than 40 years, Richert still keeps in contact with several members of that championship-winning team.
When Osterlund sold the team near mid-season in 1981 due to financial difficulties, Earnhardt drove the final 11 races of the season for Richard Childress Racing (taking Richert with him, as well) before moving to drive for Bud Moore from 1982-83.
When Earnhardt moved to Moore’s team, Richert moved to Junior Johnson’s squad, and while he wasn’t crew chief, he worked in a variety of capacities as Waltrip would go on to win the Cup championship in 1982 and finished runner up in 1983.
When Earnhardt left Moore after the 1983 season to return to RCR, Richert remained with Johnson’s team, taking over as crew chief for Bonnett for the 1984 season, and then remained in other roles until the mid-point of the 1986 season before taking over as crew chief for Buddy Baker’s team midway in 1986 as well as the bulk of the 1987 season.
In addition to being locked forever to Earnhardt with their championship win together, Richert and “The Intimidator” were locked together in a different way: Earnhardt was Richert’s best man in his 1985 marriage to wife Robin.
“I mentioned to him we were going to get married and Dale said, ‘I’m going to be your best man,'” Richert said. “We waited until the season was over and got married on Dec. 21. It was an honor to have him and (Dale’s wife) Teresa there with us.”
Richert then recalled a humorous sidelight to his nuptials.
“The funny thing is I didn’t really have like a full-size car at the time,” he said. “So I actually borrowed Junior’s and Flossie’s (Junior Johnson and then-wife Flossie) car because I was working for Junior at the time. That’s what I used to drive away.”
Then, in 2010, when Robin and Doug renewed their vows on their 25th anniversary, they both broke into tears when, as both were standing at the altar, Doug suddenly felt a hand on his right shoulder.
“While we’re standing there and the preacher was talking to us, all of a sudden I felt a hand on my shoulder,” Richert said with a smile. “And there he was, Dale Jr.
“It was emotional. When you put all the thoughts together, Dale Sr. being my best man, tragically gets hurt in a race car, then we have this ceremony and Dale Jr. standing there in his place, and Kelley (Earnhardt Miller) was up there with us, too, it was awesome, really something. Just a total surprise, but it was a very good surprise.”
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Brian Vickers talks with crew chief Doug Richert at Bristol in 2007. (Photo: John Harrelson | Getty Images)
In 45 years in the sport, Richert has literally worked for or with a Who’s Who of NASCAR drivers and team owners, including Earnhardt, Childress, Johnson, Bonnett, Junie Donlavey, Waltrip, Carl Edwards, Ron Hornaday Jr., Jack Roush, Buddy Baker, Benny and Phil Parsons, Greg Biffle, Hut Stricklin, Joe Nemechek, Brian Vickers, Kenny Irwin Jr., Landon Cassill, Andy Lally, David Reutimann and Matt DiBenedetto.
Richert joined Osterlund in early 1976 at the young age of 16, basically doing whatever job needed to be done. Several months later, Richert moved east to Charlotte to work for a new Cup team started by Roland Wlodyka. Osterlund purchased the team in late 1977.
Earnhardt would win NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year in 1979 and, even though expectations were high for 1980, the team had no inkling it would win the championship, especially after Elder left.
But despite his young age, Richert was promoted to fill Elder’s role just a month shy of his 20th birthday. And the rest is history.
Richert almost led another driver to a Cup championship. In an ironic twist, in the 25th year after Earnhardt’s first title, Richert and Biffle just barely missed taking the 2005 championship, losing out by a mere 35 points to Tony Stewart.
“My stint with Roush (Roush Fenway Racing) was some good years,” Richert said. “First I was with Carl Edwards (in the Truck Series in 2003) and then Greg Biffle in Cup (2003-06). Between Carl and Greg, we won 14 (national series) races between the two guys. Those wound up being some of the best times of my life, being involved with Carl and Greg, with Jack (Roush), Ford Motor Company, all the people there, winning six races in one year (2005), winning Homestead three years in a row, coming so close to winning that championship.”
Had it not been for a wheel coming loose late in the fall playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2005, Biffle and Richert may well have pulled off the upset over Stewart and won the championship. It’s something they still talk about today.
“The last time I went over to Greg’s house, that came up,” Richert said. “I was like, ‘Can you believe, we were that close?’ We always talk about Texas, that we had such a good car, we had a wheel come loose and couldn’t overcome it. That’ll always be the one that got away, the big fish!”
While he has enjoyed a lot of good times in the sport, life hasn’t been easy for Richert the last few years, most notably for wife Robin, who has battled a rare cancer – mucinous carcinoma – for nearly three years.
“I wish I could sit here and say we do have a good handle on it, but it’s very up and down right now,” Richert said of his wife’s condition.”Each day is a question.”
Richert then falls back on verbiage he normally uses as a crew chief to further explain how he and his wife are handling her disease.
“We have to come up with the proper setup that we can make a long run functioning body out of her now,” Richert said. “Just like we get cars that have short run speed and long run speed, now I’ve got to get a process together for her so she has long, long life and quality of life ahead of her.
“Because it’s a different type cancer, it’s a little bit of a juggling act to maintain the growth, don’t let it get any bigger, manage it and keep an eye on it. She’s been through two major surgeries, already. She don’t have any large intestines left, part of her stomach, her spleen. I mean, she’s running out of parts and pieces to take out. We get a CAT scan every three months. We try to monitor it, we look at is it growing? Is it maintaining? Is it shrinking? And then we just go from there.”
The couple will celebrate their 36th anniversary on Dec. 21.
Somehow, someway, Richert still tries to go through life each day with what he has long been known for – an ever-present smile on his face – but he admits it’s very difficult to watch the person he loves so much, suffer so much.
“It’s hard, it’s just hard to watch,” Richert said. “I know the person there. I know what that person was capable of doing prior to cancer and it’s a shame. She wants to but don’t feel good enough to do it. And it’s really, really beaten her down.
“But she’s a fighter. I mean, she feels awful quite a bit of the time, but she keeps trying. She wants to live. We’ve got a bunch of people praying for her, a bunch of people behind her, the doctors, everything, everybody’s there to help. It’s just we’ve got to figure out the right process to help her the best way.”
Richert had already turned in his resignation with MBM Motorsports and agreed to become a crew chief for a team next season, only to see the deal fall through. Still, Richert isn’t letting himself get down, which is one of the biggest attributes he has displayed throughout his career. When one door closes, Richert has had a knack of finding another door open soon thereafter. He’s weighing two other opportunities he has been presented with recently, both which would see him shift from a crew chief to a team manager/administrator role for next season.
“My wife with the cancer now, it’s hard to leave town and go away when she’s dealing with all that,” he said. “So something to stay at home, something to be like a team manager or something, that would pique my interest.
“If that doesn’t come along. I might change professions and maybe do some woodworking and some handyman, woodworking, slab tables, whatever. My dad and my brother were both carpenters in their careers and I’ve got some of their tools. That might be the line I go down next.
“But most important, my light will definitely brighten up if I can get my wife back on-track.”
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The Doug Richert File:
* Age: 61
* Hometown: San Jose, California
Career highlights as a crew chief:
* NASCAR Cup Series career: 588 races, 13 wins, 66 top-five and 120 top-10 finishes. Also 5 poles. Best season finish: first with Dale Earnhardt (1980) and second with Greg Biffle (2005).
* NASCAR Xfinity Series career: 91 races, 1 win, 6 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes. Also 1 pole. Best season finish: 11th with Jeff Purvis (2000).
* NASCAR Truck Series career: 64 races, 12 wins, 35 top-5, 45 top-10 finishes. Also 7 poles. Best season finish: first with Ron Hornaday Jr. (split the 1996 season with Doug Williams) and third with Hornaday (1995).
Brian Wilson has been tapped to serve as crew chief for NASCAR Cup Series rookie Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team for the 2022 season.
Wilson makes the leap after three full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series seasons with Austin Cindric and the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. The pair earned Penske the 2021 owners’ championship after Saturday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Wilson also propelled Cindric to the 2020 Xfinity Series championship. In 99 races over three years, Wilson earned 13 race wins, 55 top fives and 76 top 10s.
From 2016-18, Wilson handled crew chief duties for the No. 22 Ford Xfinity Series entry driven by various drivers, including Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Sam Hornish Jr., Paul Menard and Cindric. Wilson earned four victories apiece with Keselowski and Logano and two with Blaney.
Wilson has four career Cup Series starts as a crew chief under his belt with Keselowski in 2017, filling in for Paul Wolfe on the No. 2 Team Penske Ford pit box on those occasions. All of those finishes were in the top 10, including three top-five finishes that consisted of two runner-up results.
Burton will leave Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity Series effort after two full-time seasons driving the No. 20 Toyota. Burton earned four victories, 25 top fives and 44 top-10 finishes during those two full-time seasons.
Richard Petty Motorsports announced Wednesday that Dave Elenz will be the crew chief for the No. 43 Chevrolet driven by Erik Jones in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series.
Elenz makes the move from the JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevy team, which reached the Championship 4 with driver Noah Gragson in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs this year. At RPM, Elenz will replace Jerry Baxter, who has spent the last two years atop the No. 43 pit box — working with Bubba Wallace in 2020 and with Jones last season.
Elenz has 15 wins as an Xfinity Series crew chief, tying Jason Burdett for the most in JR Motorsports’ team history. His seven-year run included a pair of Xfinity Series championships — 2017 with William Byron and 2018 with Tyler Reddick.
“In 2001, when I started in NASCAR, my goal was to contend for a NASCAR Cup Series championship-title as a crew chief,” Elenz said in a team release. “The past seven years at JR Motorsports has prepared me for the next chapter in my career. Working with champion-caliber drivers like William (Byron), Tyler (Reddick), and Noah (Gragson) has not only fueled my desire to move up to the next level, but has also prepared me to the fullest for that next step.
“I appreciate Noah’s support and encouragement on this decision. I have immense gratitude for everyone at JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports and their continued support over the years. I cannot thank them enough. I am excited to start my next chapter with Erik (Jones) and Richard Petty Motorsports.”
The 40-year-old Michigan native has paired the last three seasons with Gragson, scoring five wins together for the No. 9 group. Gragson finished 12th in Saturday’s Xfinity Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway, missing out on his bid for the championship claimed by first-time winner Daniel Hemric.
Gragson was among those wishing Elenz well after his final race with the team, echoing the thoughts of JRM team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“I’ll miss him,” said Gragson, who added that he savored spending time with his crew chief in the next-to-last weekend together, carpooling before and after their clutch win at Martinsville Speedway. “He’s not going to be there, but he’s not going anywhere either in my personal life. Just thankful to get to know him over the years. Would love to have a good crew chief step in for us. We don’t really have anyone right now.”
Jones confirmed in August that he would return for a second season with the Richard Petty-owned organization. Jones finished 24th in the Cup Series standings, with six top-10 finishes in the 36-race season.
