KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Ryan Newman will soon be reunited with the crew chief who guided him to 12 career victories.
Under a restructuring at Stewart-Haas Racing announced Friday, vice president of competition Matt Borland will also be crew chief of the No. 39 Chevrolet beginning next week at Martinsville. Borland and Newman spent five seasons together from 2002-2006 at Penske Racing, where they won 12 races and 37 poles.
"Matt Borland has had great success as a crew chief, and much of it came when he and Ryan Newman worked together," competition director Greg Zipadelli said. "Matt and Ryan both have engineering backgrounds and they have similar mindsets. It's a pairing that produced some very good results and there's no reason why it can't produce similar results now that they're back together. Their four races together this year will position them very well for 2013."
Tony Gibson will move to the No. 10 team to crew chief for Danica Patrick. Gibson will get a jump on the 2013 season by overseeing Patrick in her final two Sprint Cup starts of the season, at Texas and Phoenix.
Team co-owner Tony Stewart and crew chief Steve Addington are not changing.
"We have a lot of talented people at Stewart-Haas Racing and as we grow, it's important to place people in the proper roles to get the best out of everyone," Zipadelli said. "Tony Gibson has been with Stewart-Haas Racing from the beginning and knows what it takes to build a team. His experience will be crucial to developing the No. 10 team and Danica, and the rapport he already has with Matt Borland and Steve Addington will make the communication between all three of our teams seamless."
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