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Stewart, who will be running his final Sprint Cup season in 2016, will work with Michael Bugarewicz, who had been the race engineer for Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 team. Bugarewicz replaces Chad Johnston, who had been Stewart’s crew chief the past two seasons before leaving the organization to become the crew chief for Kyle Larson at Chip Ganassi Racing.
Bugarewicz, a Penn State graduate and former engineer at Roush Fenway Racing, worked with Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers, helping lead SHR’s No. 4 team to the Sprint Cup championship in 2014. Harvick finished second to Kyle Busch in this year’s championship race.
Patrick also will have a new crew chief, with Billy Scott replacing Daniel Knost. Scott had been a crew chief with Michael Waltrip Racing, which closed its operation following the 2015 season. Scott had worked with drivers Brian Vickers and David Ragan on MWR’s No. 55 team and served as Clint Bowyer’s crew chief for the second half of 2015. Scott had previously worked with Childers at MWR.
Knost, who moved to Patrick’s team in 2015 after working with teammate Kurt Busch, has been promoted to Manager of Vehicle Dynamics, where he will oversee a variety of technical programs, with a specific focus on track simulation and racecar performance.
Stewart, who finished a career-low 28th in points and hasn’t won a race since 2013, promised changes to his team and the organization during the offseason. Patrick finished 24th in points, her third straight season of 24th or worse.
“We made these changes after thoroughly evaluating our program to ensure that all four of our teams are consistently strong and competitive,” Greg Zipadelli, SHR’s vice president of competition, said. “In this business, you can’t rest and you can never be satisfied. You have to constantly improve. We feel these personnel changes enhance our strengths and shore up areas where we needed to be better.”
Childers will remain Harvick’s crew chief, while Tony Gibson will continue to work with Kurt Busch. Harvick and Busch both made the Chase this year, combining to win five races. Busch finished eighth in the final standings.
Knost spent just one season with Patrick, replacing Gibson when he moved to Busch’s team. Johnston took over Stewart’s team in 2014 when Stewart was recovering from a broken leg that caused him to miss the final 15 races of 2013. Stewart missed three races in 2014 following the tragic accident that killed sprint-car driver Kevin Ward Jr. Stewart, a three-time champion, had just three top-10 finishes in 2015.
“We have great people at Stewart-Haas Racing and these changes prove that,” said Stewart, co-owner of SHR with Gene Haas. “We were able to promote from within while also adding new talent.
“Change isn’t easy, and that’s particularly true when it comes to my relationship with Chad Johnston. He served as my crew chief during two very difficult seasons. He was always supportive and he’s become like a brother to me.”
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