Roush replaces crew chief on #17 Matt Kenseth team


One cannot go without winning races for an extended period of time and expect to keep his job for very long. Drew Blickensderfer found that out on when he was reassigned within the Roush organization and Todd Parrot was brought on to crew chief the #17 car of Matt Kenseth. Call this the curse of winning the Daytona 500 revisited. Last year Drew and matt teamed up to not only win the biggest NASCAR race of the season, but the second race in California as well. However since then they have not run good, and have failed to find the magic.

I always hate moves like this in the middle of the season. If owner Jack Roush though that Drew was not up to the job he should have been let go in the off season, and the new man could have been brought in built the cars for 2010 and started developing his relationship with Kenseth. The question I have if Drew is not good enough for this job today, how could he have been good enough for it heading into the 2010 Daytona 500?

Sure the limited nature of off season testing may be leaving team owners in the dark about how they team are operating early in the season, but this is a move that probably needed to be made at the end of last season.

Drew was once a rising star at Roush. He finished up the 2008 season leading Carl Edwards’ team in the Nationwide series to seven wins and a second place finish in the point’s standings. He started the 2009 season undefeated through two races, but the final nail in Drew’s coffin should have been the fact for the first time in his career he failed to qualify for the NASCAR post season. Drew has been reassigned to the Roush R & D Department.

Related Links:

  • NASCAR Complete.com
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