Matt Kenseth Signs Blickensderfer as New Crew-Chief

The offseason is known to be a time when people do a short recap of what they did in the past season and plan a new successful (or so they think) campaign for the upcoming one. However, this particular offseason has been – and promises to be – more about surviving the financial crisis and laying off employees.

Matt Kenseth joined the club and named Drew Blickensderfer as new crew chief for his 2009 Sprint Cup campaign. Blickensderfer will therefore be Kenseth's 3rd crew chief in the last 3 years, following Robbie Reiser and Chip Bolin on the job. The former was crew-chief for the Wisconsin-born driver ever since his debut in 1998, while replaced by Bolin at the beginning of 2008.

“Chip has been one of the biggest assets to this team since the beginning. Both as an engineer and crew chief, he has been instrumental in our championship run in 2003 and our making the Chase every year since,” said Kenseth about his departed crew-chief. Bolin will be continue his NASCAR experience as engineer for Roush Fenway Racing next year.

Blickensderfer, on the other hand, has worked with Kenseth in the Nationwide Series last season, when being crew-chief for the No 17 team. However, the two parted ways during the course of the season and Blickensderfer moved to the No 60 team – whose driver was runner-up Carl Edwards – for the remainder of 2008. However, he will be making his debut as Sprint Cup crew-chief in 2009.

“We are really looking forward to Drew coming on board. Drew brings a great work ethic and high level of enthusiasm to our team. He has been waiting for the opportunity to become a crew chief in the Sprint Cup Series and I know he'll make the most of it. I had the chance to work with Drew for a couple of years in the Nationwide Series and he is one of the hardest working guys in the garage. He has a passion for the sport, and I know he will be a great addition to our No. 17 team,” added Kenseth.