Aric Almirola to have new crew chief for final 10 races of 2016
Richard Petty Motorsports is giving Aric Almirola a new crew chief for the Chase. The team said Tuesday that Drew Blickensderfer would serve as Almirola’s crew chief for the final 10 races of the season and replace Trent Owens.
“We’ve made significant investments in both teams, and the results for the No. 43 team have not been what we expected, team CEO Brian Moffitt said in a statement. “By making this change now, we hope that Drew (Blickensderfer) can begin momentum to improving on-track performance and get the team in a good place for the 2017 season. Trent Owens has been a valued member of our organization and will continue to play a significant role with Richard Petty Motorsports.”
As you can guess by Moffitt’s comments, the No. 43 team is not a part of the 16-driver playoff field this season. And really was never a contender. Almirola is 27th in the points standings and hasn’t finished in the top 10 in any race this season.
The move to replace Owens with Blickensderfer comes just weeks after RPM announced it had removed Sammy Johns from his role as the team’s competition director.
Blickensderfer, who was in a research and development capacity for RPM, most recently served as the crew chief for Sam Hornish Jr. for RPM in 2015. Blickensderfer was Hornish’s crew chief for the first 10 races of the season before he was replaced by Kevin Manion. Hornish, who finished 26th in 2015, was replaced by Brian Scott as Almirola’s teammate in 2016. Scott is currently 34th in the standings.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
