Joe Gibbs Racing changes driver-crew chief roster for 2015 NASCAR season

Coming off an uneven, unfulfilling year, Joe Gibbs Racing is reorganizing its driver-crew chief lineup for the 2015 Sprint Cup season in a series of moves announced Thursday.

The changes will see Darian Grubb, Denny Hamlin’s former crew chief, paired with Carl Edwards, who joins a newly created fourth JGR car after having 11 years with Roush Fenway Racing. Hamlin’s No. 11 team will now be guided by Dave Rogers, who had been Kyle Busch’s crew chief the past five seasons.

Adam Stevens has been promoted from the Xfinity Series to lead Busch’s team. Stevens and Busch worked together with great success in NASCAR’s No. 2 division, winning 19 races over the past two seasons.

The only JGR team not to be involved in Thursday’s announcement is Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 outfit, which will see Jason Ratcliff remain as crew chief. One season removed from winning a series-best seven times, Kenseth went winless in 2014 but was competitive and reached the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Hamlin and Busch each scored one victory last season. Hamlin reached the championship bracket, while Busch was eliminated in Round 2 after crashing in the transfer race at Talladega Superspeedway.

“With the expansion of our NASCAR Sprint Cup Series operations to four teams next year with the addition of Carl Edwards, we have been able to take a step back and evaluate each of our teams and make decisions that we feel are best for our organization long term,” JGR president J.D. Gibbs said in a statement. “Like Jason and Dave previously, Adam has clearly proven that he is ready to move into the Cup Series and we feel that his familiarity with Kyle provides the opportunity for us to make that move now.

“We think pairing Dave with Denny and Darian with Carl will also make each team stronger heading into next season. Jason and Matt came together quickly and we felt it was in the best interest of the 20 team to keep it as is.”

JGR also reshuffled its crew chiefs for its Xfinity teams. Eric Phillips will move from Kyle Busch Motorsports to work with rookie Daniel Suarez, who will drive the No. 18 Toyota.

Hamlin’s longtime engineer, Mike Wheeler, will crew chief the No. 20 car, which will again see multiple drivers in the seat. Chris Gayle takes over as crew chief of the No. 54 car to be shared by Busch and others. Gayle was crew chief for JGR driver Elliott Sadler last season. Sadler has left the organization to drive for Roush in 2015.