Championship 4 Crew Chiefs in the NASCAR Cup Series

Posted on by

Championship 4 crew chiefs in the NASCAR Cup Series are featured before the Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday.

On Sunday, November 8th, four NASCAR Xfinity Series crew chiefs will lead their Championship 4 drivers in the Season Finale 500. Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano will compete for the 2020 series title. Their crew chiefs, Adam Gustafson, Chris Gabehart, Jeremy Bullins, and Paul Wolfe will lead their respective teams. The race begins at 3 pm ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Championship 4 Crew Chiefs in the NASCAR Cup Series

Chase Elliott (No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)

Crew Chief Alan Gustafson

Since making his debut in the NASCAR Cup Series as a Hendrick Motorsport’s crew chief in 2005, Adam Gustafson has shown that he is one of the best in the sport. During his 16 seasons of full-time competition, Gustafson has worked with five different drivers: Kyle Busch (2005-2007), Casey Mears (2008), Mark Martin (2009, 2010), Jeff Gordon (2011-2015) and Chase Elliott (2016-Present).

And during those 16 seasons, he led his drivers to 13 Playoff appearances and to wins in 12 of the seasons. This weekend at Phoenix will mark his second appearance in the Championship 4, his first appearance was with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon in 2015, they finished the season third in points.

The Elliott-Gustafson pair has combined for the following achievements in 176 NASCAR Cup Series races together since 2016:

  • 10 wins
  • 57 top-fives
  • 94 top-tens
  • 2,938 laps led
  • 9 poles
  • One NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 appearance (2020)
  • Five consecutive NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs appearances (2016-2020)

The two will look to capture their first NASCAR Cup Series championship together this weekend at Phoenix Raceway. If they accomplish the feat, Gustafson will become the 41st different crew chief in the series with a championship.

NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)

Creiw Chief Chris Gabehart

The powerful duo of driver Denny Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart are the only team from last season’s Championship 4 to make it in this season’s, proving they are a force to be reckoned with.

Since joining forces with Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team, Gabehart has led the crew to 13 wins, including two Daytona 500 victories (2019, 2020), two Playoff appearances and two Championship 4 appearances (2019, 2020).

The Hamlin-Gabehart pair has combined for the following achievements in 68 NASCAR Cup Series races together since 2017:

  • 13 wins
  • 35 top-fives
  • 43 top-tens
  • 1,874 laps led
  • 3 poles
  • Two consecutive NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 appearances (2019, 2020)
  • Two consecutive NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs appearances (2019, 2020)

Under Gabehart’s leadership this season, Hamlin has earned 15 top-fives, 18 top-tebs and has hoisted the most trophies (seven) since a career-best eight-win year in 2010.

If Hamlin and Gabehart win the championship this season, Gabehart will become the 41st different crew chief in the series to win a championship.

Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Ford)

Crew Chief Jeremy Bullins

During the 2019 offseason Team Penske made headlines with a crew chief shake-up amongst its three teams and for the first time in in the Cup Series, Brad Keselowski and Jeremy Bullins were paired together for the 2020 season.

Jeremy Bullins began his NASCAR career with the Wood Brothers in 2000 as race engineer on the famous No. 21 team; a position he held until June 2002. From 2003 to 2011, Bullins worked with three different teams as race engineer in the NASCAR Cup Series – ST Motorsports, Robert Yates Racing and Richard Childress Racing.

In 2012, he accepted a position as crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 22 NASCAR Xfinity Series team. He led five drivers in 2012 and posted three wins with former champion Brad Keselowski – including the inaugural Indy 250 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Bullins served as crew chief for four drivers in 2013 at Team Penske, leading the crew to 12 wins and Roger Penske’s first NASCAR Xfinity Series owner title. Bullins led the No. 22 team and five drivers in 2014 to Team Penske’s second NASCAR Xfinity Series owner title after posting six wins.

In 2015, Bullins returned to the Wood Brothers organization to lead the No. 21 team with Ryan Blaney in the NASCAR Cup Series. The pair worked together for three years at the Wood Brothers Racing organization before making the transition back to Team Penske in 2018 where he led Ryan Blaney to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Blaney eventually finished 10th in the final Cup Series point standings as he scored then career bests in top fives (eight), top 10s (16), poles (three) and laps led (660). Last season the duo closed out 2019 by finishing a career-best seventh in the final NASCAR Cup Series standings.

This season, Keselowski and Bullins have both been pulling in the same direction and it shows. The No. 2 team has not only qualified for the Championship 4 but has also put up some pretty decent numbers in the first 35 races together

  • 4 wins
  • 12 top fives
  • 23 top 10s
  • 936 laps led
  • NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 appearance in inaugural season together (2020)
  • NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs appearances in inaugural season together (2020)

If Keselowski and Bullins win the championship this season, Bullins will become the 41st different crew chief in the series to win a championship.

Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Ford)

Crew Chief Paul Wolfe

Joey Logano started the 2020 season with high hopes in landing new crew chief Paul Wolfe. But they had a rough start in the season-opening Daytona 500 following an incident that relegated him to a 26th-place finish.

But the 30-year old didn’t take any time to wallow, bouncing back the following week at Las Vegas with a win and an automatic berth to the Playoffs. He then collected another win at Phoenix Raceway just before the pandemic swept the nation.

Once the series returned to action, Logano’s success slowed, and the 2018 series champ put up 12 top-tens to round out the regular season. He entered the 2020 Playoffs as the fourth seed with 22 Playoffs points.