NASCAR: An In-Depth Look At The New Crew Chiefs In The Chase

USA Today Sports

Adam Stevens – Crew Chief for Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing 

Portsmouth, Ohio’s Adam Stevens had racing in his blood almost from the start and was proactive in getting to where he is in NASCAR today. Adam’s father Gregg raced dune buggies and dirt late-model cars, and young Adam tagged along wherever and whenever he could. When he was old enough to race, Adam’s dad arranged a test session for his son which was ultimately rained out, so Adam’s first opportunity to drive came in the next weekend’s race. Adam was driving 750-horsepower dirt Late-models before even receiving his driver’s license. Adam qualified for “The Dream,” one of the nation’s most prestigious dirt Late-model races, in 1999 at Eldora Speedway.

Stevens was attending Ohio University, completing his mechanical engineering degree in 2002, when he realized that a driving career wasn’t for him. He went to Charlotte, NC with his degree in hand and literally went door-to-door handing out his resume hoping to land a job, which he did in August of 2002 with Petty Enterprises as a designer. He was hired by Brandon Thomas and Robin Pemberton – two men who would later prove influential in his career.

Fast-forward three years to 2005: Thomas was at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) when they were expanding to three cars and recommended hiring Stevens as an engineer for Tony Stewart’s No. 20 team. Stevens remained in this role for five years, winning a Cup Series championship with Stewart in 2005 and working with a young man named Joey Logano in 2009 and 2010.  Stevens’ hard work paid off, as he was named crew chief for Logano’s Nationwide effort in 2011. Stevens and Logano won nine races together in 2012. In 2013, Matt Kenseth joined JGR, and the resulting departure of Logano to Penske Racing saw Stevens paired with Kyle Busch in the Nationwide series. This was an incredible pairing, as Stevens and Busch combined for 19 wins, 46 top-5’s and 47 top-10’s throughout 2013 and 2014. When Busch’s Cup crew chief Dave Rogers left the No. 18 team, the pairing of Stevens and Busch at the Cup level just made sense.

That pairing has indeed paid off, as Kyle returned from injuries suffered in the Xfinity race at Daytona to win four times at the Cup level (Sonoma, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Indianapolis). The No. 18 team’s 2015 Chase berth was officially obtained when Kyle’s 7th-place finish at Darlington assured him of mathematically finishing 30th or better in the points standings and thus completing NASCAR’s prescribed requirements for him to be eligible for the Chase after granting him a waiver from some other requirements as a result of his Daytona injuries.