Kenseth’s Ex-Crew Chief Was ‘Disappointed’ After Removal

Drew Blickensderfer has resurfaced as Carl Edwards’ crew chief in the Nationwide Series.

But in his first public comments since being replaced as Matt Kenseth’s Sprint Cup Series crew chief just one race into the season (and less than a year after he won his first two races), Blickensderfer said he was “disappointed” but not completely surprised at the change.

“If you’re in that situation and you’re completely surprised, you probably aren’t aware of all that’s going on around you,” he said, “so I wasn’t completely surprised by it.

“As a winner, you want to be at the top level performing, but I was probably disappointed about our performance on the race track more than getting switched out.”

Blickensderfer said he “definitely” didn’t see it coming over the offseason but reiterated he wasn’t completely blindsided by the decision.

He blamed chemistry for the breakup, saying that the team didn’t fit together the right way. That jived with Kenseth’s comments made at California.

“The dynamic of the pit crew…and myself and Matt and how that dynamic all fit was more of the issue than it was how I called the race or how I decided to set the grille tape for debris at California,” he said.

Blickensderfer said team owner Jack Roush told him not to get too comfortable in the research and development role he was moved to, and sure enough, he got the call to crew chief for Edwards in the Nationwide Series a few days later.

The move reunited a successful combination from 2008, and Blickensderfer said he was excited for the opportunity.

“I’d probably rank this in the top five jobs in all three series of what I’d like to have and what I’d like to do,” he said, “so when the opportunity arose, I jumped to come back.”

Blickensderfer is already in his new role beginning at Las Vegas.