Tweet
Former Cup champion crew chief Doug Richert has been hired by Team Red Bull to serve as Brian Vickers' crew chief on the team's No. 83 Toyota Camry in 2007, Toyota's first year in the Nextel Cup Series.
The veteran chief mechanic said he was looking forward to working with the youngster and taking advantage of some "good systems and processes" that Team Red Bull's management had put in place.
"I introduced myself to [Vickers] the other day," Richert said. "Everyone I've talked to says he's a good guy, and he seems to be a real good qualifier, and that's something we're going to need in those first five races next season."
Richert's departure is the second major loss to Roush Racing this fall. Earlier, Mark Martin announced he would leave Roush after 19 years to drive a limited Nextel Cup schedule next season in Chevrolets fielded by Ginn Racing.
With that announcement, team owner Jack Roush set forth a major restructuring of his crew chief / driver matchups for 2007. The reshuffling did not include Richert, whose contract was up at the end of 2006.
Roush announced that Greg Biffle would switch to the team Martin had driven for, led by crew chief Pat Tryson. Richert said that opened the door for him to look elsewhere.
"Getting in on the ground floor of this Toyota program kinda excites me," said Richert, who told the Sirius Speedway show on Sirius Satellite Radio that he had options to remain at Roush, but that he wanted to remain in the Nextel Cup Series.
The only team Roush fields in Nextel Cup that did not have a crew chief announced at the end of the season was the No. 26 Ford for driver Jamie McMurray.
"Maybe I was a little sour [after being switched away from working with Biffle's team]," Richert said. "But your head's got to be in the game and I didn't want to do a disservice to Jamie [by just going with his team].
"I'm a startup guy. I've been involved in a lot of them."
Richert led Biffle's No. 16 Ford team to second in the 2005 Nextel Cup standings behind Tony Stewart on the strength of a league-leading six wins and a second-best 15 top-five finishes.
This year the duo struggled to 13th in the standings, missing the critical Chase for the Nextel Cup. Their erratic season included two Bud Poles and two victories, including the duo's third consecutive victory in the season finale Ford 400. The team had only eight top-fives.
Richert joined Roush Racing in 2003 as a crew chief in the Truck Series for Carl Edwards but moved up to the Cup Series late in the season and was paired with Biffle.
Next season will mark new beginnings for both men. Vickers, 23, began his career with his family owned team but raced for Hendrick Motorsports for the past four seasons.
He won the 2003 Busch Series championship and earned his first Nextel Cup victory for Hendrick at Talladega. By then, however, he had already announced his intention to go to Team Red Bull for 2007.
"Doug has worked with practically a Who's Who list of drivers in this sport and he knows what it takes to be consistently successful at this level," Vickers said. "What an awesome feeling to know he's in my garage now."
Richert was 20 when he won the 1980 Winston Cup championship with Dale Earnhardt. Richert had his greatest success with Biffle, winning 10 races over the last three seasons.
"The Cup Series has gotten so much more competitive these days," Richert said. "Starting from scratch is no easy task, but once the team gets some chemistry and momentum going, we'll hopefully be able to do some exciting things."
Team Red Bull attempted to qualify for three Nextel Cup races at the end of 2006 -- Charlotte, Atlanta and Texas, using Dodges. Bill Elliott failed to make the field at Charlotte and Champ Car standout A.J. Allmendinger, who will be Vickers' teammate in 2007, wasn't quick enough at Texas.
Qualifying was rained out at Atlanta, thus Allmendinger didn't make the field there, meaning the team will come to Daytona's Speedweeks 2007 with a new car, no races under its belt and having to qualify for the Daytona 500 on speed, or through their Gatorade Duel qualifying race.
The veteran chief mechanic said he was looking forward to working with the youngster and taking advantage of some "good systems and processes" that Team Red Bull's management had put in place.
"I introduced myself to [Vickers] the other day," Richert said. "Everyone I've talked to says he's a good guy, and he seems to be a real good qualifier, and that's something we're going to need in those first five races next season."
Richert's departure is the second major loss to Roush Racing this fall. Earlier, Mark Martin announced he would leave Roush after 19 years to drive a limited Nextel Cup schedule next season in Chevrolets fielded by Ginn Racing.
With that announcement, team owner Jack Roush set forth a major restructuring of his crew chief / driver matchups for 2007. The reshuffling did not include Richert, whose contract was up at the end of 2006.
Roush announced that Greg Biffle would switch to the team Martin had driven for, led by crew chief Pat Tryson. Richert said that opened the door for him to look elsewhere.
"Getting in on the ground floor of this Toyota program kinda excites me," said Richert, who told the Sirius Speedway show on Sirius Satellite Radio that he had options to remain at Roush, but that he wanted to remain in the Nextel Cup Series.
The only team Roush fields in Nextel Cup that did not have a crew chief announced at the end of the season was the No. 26 Ford for driver Jamie McMurray.
"Maybe I was a little sour [after being switched away from working with Biffle's team]," Richert said. "But your head's got to be in the game and I didn't want to do a disservice to Jamie [by just going with his team].
"I'm a startup guy. I've been involved in a lot of them."
Richert led Biffle's No. 16 Ford team to second in the 2005 Nextel Cup standings behind Tony Stewart on the strength of a league-leading six wins and a second-best 15 top-five finishes.
This year the duo struggled to 13th in the standings, missing the critical Chase for the Nextel Cup. Their erratic season included two Bud Poles and two victories, including the duo's third consecutive victory in the season finale Ford 400. The team had only eight top-fives.
Richert joined Roush Racing in 2003 as a crew chief in the Truck Series for Carl Edwards but moved up to the Cup Series late in the season and was paired with Biffle.
Next season will mark new beginnings for both men. Vickers, 23, began his career with his family owned team but raced for Hendrick Motorsports for the past four seasons.
He won the 2003 Busch Series championship and earned his first Nextel Cup victory for Hendrick at Talladega. By then, however, he had already announced his intention to go to Team Red Bull for 2007.
"Doug has worked with practically a Who's Who list of drivers in this sport and he knows what it takes to be consistently successful at this level," Vickers said. "What an awesome feeling to know he's in my garage now."
Richert was 20 when he won the 1980 Winston Cup championship with Dale Earnhardt. Richert had his greatest success with Biffle, winning 10 races over the last three seasons.
"The Cup Series has gotten so much more competitive these days," Richert said. "Starting from scratch is no easy task, but once the team gets some chemistry and momentum going, we'll hopefully be able to do some exciting things."
Team Red Bull attempted to qualify for three Nextel Cup races at the end of 2006 -- Charlotte, Atlanta and Texas, using Dodges. Bill Elliott failed to make the field at Charlotte and Champ Car standout A.J. Allmendinger, who will be Vickers' teammate in 2007, wasn't quick enough at Texas.
Qualifying was rained out at Atlanta, thus Allmendinger didn't make the field there, meaning the team will come to Daytona's Speedweeks 2007 with a new car, no races under its belt and having to qualify for the Daytona 500 on speed, or through their Gatorade Duel qualifying race.
Comment