Roush Racing Announces Crew Chief Changes for 2002

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (November 27, 2001)- In preparation for the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup season, Roush Racing announced today the reorganization of two of its teams. Crew chiefs Ben Leslie (No. 97) and Jimmy Fennig (No. 6) will swap positions within the organization.

Fennig has been crew chief of the No. 6 Viagraâ (sildenafil citrate) Taurus driven by veteran Mark Martin since 1998. Leslie recently finished his first year as crew chief for the No. 97 Sharpie/Rubbermaid Taurus driven by rookie Kurt Busch and has worked for Roush Racing since 1994. Shawn Parker, car chief of the No. 6 team, will also move with Fennig. Leslie is searching to hire a car chief for the Mark Martin program.

"I'm excited about the new opportunity with Kurt," Fennig said. "Mark and I spent many years working together and winning races, so I'm hopeful that I can add the experience to the No. 97 team that will help get Kurt to many victories. I'm looking forward to moving into a new role within Roush Racing and hopefully getting Kurt his first Winston Cup win."

Leslie is likewise excited: "I've worked with Mark in the past, so I'm anticipating a smooth transition on the No. 6 team. I spent a couple years with him when our shop was in Liberty, N.C., so I have a good feel of how he likes to run things. Because last year was my first full season as a crew chief with a rookie driver, I have more things to learn, and I can't think of a better person and driver to learn from."

"Jimmy Fennig and Shawn Parker have done a great job for me, " says Martin. "I'm sure that their experience will be a great asset for Kurt and the No. 97 program, while I will benefit from the chemistry change introduced by Ben Leslie."

"Having the leadership and experience of Jimmy Fennig will definitely help our team, and be a step in the right direction," Busch said. "I think that it's going to make a real impact in terms of a plan and guidance with a rookie such as myself. Jimmy has delivered some great results in the past and it's going to be an honor to work with a crew chief of his stature. I look forward to the opportunity of learning from his knowledge and experience."

"We made the decision to change crew chiefs for two of our Winston Cup programs after lengthy evaluation of the past season," team owner Jack Roush said. "We feel it's always important to integrate our teams, and this is another example of how each of our drivers and crew chiefs work together. We all have the same goal, and that is to win races and building championship-caliber teams. Our employees were able to see that and realize what we needed to help accomplish that goal. We feel the changes we made today will only better our race programs in the future. We're extremely happy with what our crew chiefs have been able to do with the programs, so we are fortunate that we were able to move them around to achieve that goal."

Roush Racing is a subsidiary of Roush Industries that operates eight teams; four in NASCAR Winston Cup with drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch; two in the Busch series with Burton and Greg Biffle; and two teams in the Craftsman Truck series with drivers Jon Wood and Kyle Busch.