The 44 full-time teams on the circuit have made 18 changes this season. Felix Sabates, owner of two Winston Cup teams, explained the trend. And today, performance is everything.
Sponsors sign with a team that can do the job, and a driver that can do the job.
He gets blamed for everything if the team does not perform well. Since the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, more than a third of the regular teams have switched crew chiefs at least once. More changes are expected during the remainder of the season. The pace has been uncommonly fast and furious in 1999. They are in charge of everything from overseeing the shop assignments and hiring crew members to developing race strategy and making decisions in the pits.