Roush Racing rotates crew chiefs for 2002

Changes were made to the Mark Martin crew and the Kurt Busch crew by Jack Roush. The 2001 season was a disappointment for the four-car team in Winston Cup. Roush decided to make changes prior to the 2002 season.

The #6 Ford Taurus of Martin had it's worst season in it's 13-year history finishing 12th in the final points with a winless season and only three top-five finishes.

Martin's crew chief Jimmy Fennig has been moved to handle the duties on the Busch's #97 Ford Taurus. Busch finished 27th in the final points and was one of the top rookies this season. Joining Fennig will be car chief Shawn Parker, who also worked on Martin's car this year.

Fennig has been with Martin since 1998 as crew chief; Martin won seven races and finished second in the points that year.

"Mark and I spent many years working together and winning races, so I'm hopeful that I can add the experience to the No. 97 team that will help get Kurt to many victories," said Fennig. "I'm looking forward to moving into a new role within Roush Racing and hopefully getting Kurt his first Winston Cup win."

Busch has already experienced change this year when his rookie crew chief Matt Chambers was replaced by Ben Leslie in the middle of the season. Leslie has been with Roush for seven years and provided a more stable leadership role to the team and to Busch -- a point proven when Busch received his first career Bud Pole at Darlington September 1st. A car chief has not been announced for Martin's Ford at this time.

"I've worked with Mark in the past, so I'm anticipating a smooth transition on the No. 6 team," said Leslie. "I spent a couple years with him when our shop was in Liberty, N.C., so I have a good feel of how he likes to run things."

"We made the decision to change crew chiefs for two of our Winston Cup programs after lengthy evaluation of the past season," said Roush. "We all have the same goal, and that is to win races and building championship-caliber teams. Our employees were able to see that and realize what we needed to help accomplish that goal."