Race team personnel shifts began as soon as the checkered flag waved on the 2026 season, and two NASCAR Cup Series drivers said they weren’t consulted about the crew chief changes affecting them. Alex Bowman, whose final Cup season is 2027, is losing Blake Harris who has been his crew chief since 2023. Harris is moving to Trackhouse Racing to oversee Shane van Gisbergen’s team. Stephen Doran, who has been Van Gisbergen’s crew chief since 2025, is returning to Spire Motorsports to take the reins for Michael McDowell. Travis Peterson, who was McDowell’s crew chief, was offered a team-wide engineering role at Spire. “I haven’t really been a part of that,” Bowman replied when asked about his involvement in his crew chief situation. “I think there’s a lot of people that have a much better view than probably my view on that.” The Arizona native believes the requirements for a crew chief vary with each race team because not every organization operates the same. However, he believes a crew chief should be a good leader as well as a person who can make quick decisions and follow through with them. “I’m not the most natural leader in the world,” Bowman said. “I’m shy and awkward and kind of stick to myself. So having a good, strong leader as a crew chief is important.” Van Gisbergen said he comes from a world where the driver has no voice in the team’s crew chief. “You kind of just get put with who you are and work it out from there,” Van Gisbergen said. “It’s up to the team, I guess.” Austin Dillon also will have a new crew chief in 2027. Richard Boswell, who has been Dillon’s crew chief the last two seasons, is now the vice president of competition for Richard Childress Racing. A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.
Liked by Chloé Rogers, Emily Brown
Liked by Chloé Rogers, Emily Brown
Liked by Chloé Rogers, Emily Brown
