2022 NASCAR drivers and crew chiefs: Ranking the new pairings
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
Of the 32 full-time Cup drivers, 14 will be paired in 2022 with different crew chiefs than they had at the start of the 2021 season.
Which duos will work the best? That’s a tricky question because what might be best for 2022 could be different from what's best for the long term.
For these purposes, I'm ranking the pairings in order of whom I think will enjoy the most success over the next 18 months.
1. Ryan Blaney-Jonathan Hassler
Blaney earned three wins and finished seventh in the standings in 2021, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him match or better that in his first year with Hassler, who replaced the retiring Todd Gordon.
Hassler got a half-season of experience last year as crew chief for Matt DiBenedetto and earned positive reviews. Blaney spent time interviewing prospective crew chiefs and chose Hassler, and that’s important; the driver's involvement in the decision should increase confidence and trust, typically hurdles for new driver-crew chief combinations.
2. Brad Keselowski-Matt McCall
Take one of the best drivers and one of the best crew chiefs, and they should perform well. But this is a long-term project, as Keselowski left Team Penske to join and co-own the newly named Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.
McCall was crew chief for Kurt Busch at Chip Ganassi Racing, and the former driver was recruited hard by Keselowski. Once they get the equipment and the infrastructure at RFK the way they want it, they will contend.
3. Kurt Busch-Billy Scott
Building the team for the new car added to the 23XI Racing fleet, the veteran Busch is reuniting with Billy Scott from their days at Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch joined the organization from Chip Ganassi Racing, and Scott was most recently at Richard Childress Racing.
They won’t need any time to learn about each other, but they will need some time as they build a team from the ground up at an organization in its second season.
4. Austin Cindric-Jeremy Bullins
Cindric, the 2020 Xfinity Series champion and 2021 runner-up, moves full-time to the Cup Series to replace Keselowski. He joins the team run by Bullins, an experienced crew chief.
Their only limitation is Cindric’s lack of experience in a Cup car.
5. Chris Buescher-Scott Graves
Buescher and Graves won an Xfinity Series title together in 2015, and then Graves won another with Daniel Suarez in 2016. Neither has had success on the Cup side, but the hope is that they can rekindle what they had several years ago.
Graves was with Roush driver Ryan Newman the past three years, until a change was made for the final five races, when he worked with Buescher.
6. Bubba Wallace-Bootie Barker
Wallace and Barker worked the final eight races together last year and won at Talladega for the first career Cup victory for both. Barker had been working in the 23XI Racing shop and is well respected in the garage.
While both have shown that they are capable, they haven’t enjoyed consistent success at the Cup level thus far.
7. Erik Jones-Dave Elenz
If the Clash is any indication, this ranking might be way too low, as Jones finished fourth in that event. But this isn’t as much about Jones and Elenz, who was crew chief for Noah Gragson on the Xfinity side, as it is about the new Petty GMS Motorsports. That organization is a bit of an unknown going into this season.
8. Aric Almirola-Drew Blickensderfer
Almirola and Blickensderfer averaged a finish of 18.1 in 2017, when they worked together at Richard Petty Motorsports. Blickensderfer came from Front Row Motorsports to SHR for Almirola’s final season (he is retiring after this year).
The heart wants to put this pairing higher on the list, but the mind says SHR struggled last year and might again this year.
9. Justin Haley-Trent Owens
Haley ran the majority of Cup races for Spire Motorsports last year while also competing full-time in Xfinity for Kaulig Racing. This season, he moves up to full-time Cup with Kaulig, which hired crew chief Trent Owens from JTG Daugherty Racing.
This pairing could produce results in a few years, but the 21-year-old Haley is still learning the craft.
10. Michael McDowell-Blake Harris
When Blickensderfer left for SHR, it created an opening for McDowell’s crew chief. Harris, a longtime car chief for Martin Truex Jr., brings a wealth of car and mechanic experience at a time when most organizations look for engineers to call the shots.
Harris hired a car chief, but he is pretty much doing the job with the previous crew, which won the Daytona 500 with McDowell and was much improved in 2021. But building on that momentum will be tough when bringing in a crew chief from the outside.
11. Harrison Burton-Brian Wilson
Both Burton (formerly Joe Gibbs Racing, where he had four Xfinity wins) and Wilson (Penske, with 13 wins the past three years with Cindric) move from the Xfinity to the Cup Series, joining Penske affiliate Wood Brothers Racing. It will be too soon to gauge their success in 2022 — and probably for the first half of the 2023 season.
12. Todd Gilliland-Seth Barbour
Gilliland is a rookie, going straight from trucks to Cup and joining the Front Row No. 38 team that had Anthony Alfredo as a driver last year. Gilliland’s learning curve will be huge.
13. Ty Dillon-Jerame Donley
Dillon didn’t have a full-time ride last year, and Donley is a former engineer at Chip Ganassi Racing. They both have a lot to prove in their first season at Petty GMS Motorsports.
14. Cody Ware-Billy Plourde
With Mike Hillman as his crew chief last year, Ware had an average finish of 31st for his family’s team. Hillman is going to work with the Rick Ware Racing Xfinity team this year, and Plourde, who had worked with the team’s No. 53 car, moves over as Ware’s crew chief.
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
