Luke Lambert
Lucas A. Lambert is an American NASCAR crew chief who currently serves as the crew chief for JR Motorsports's No. 9 car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driven by Noah Gragson. He has worked for RFR since 2020. Lambert previously had spent his entire NASCAR career working for Richard Childress Racing, first as an engineer and later a crew chief. He first worked on Jeff Burton's No. 31 car in the Cup Series in both roles, then became the crew chief for their No. 2 car in the Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series driven by Elliott Sadler , followed by a second stint as a Cup Series crew chief on the No. 31 (later renumbered as the No. 8) car, driven by Burton, Newman, and Daniel Hemric. Career. Lambert became a NASCAR fan as a child after attending races at Bristol Motor Speedway which led him to start racing go-karts. He attended college at North Carolina State University and participated in the university's Wolfpack Motorsports program as a driver and mechanic. 2005–2019: Richard Childress Racing. After graduating college in 2005, Lambert worked for Richard Childress Racing as a mechanical engineer; he was moved up to race  engineer in 2007 to work with Jeff Burton's team. When Burton's crew chief, Todd Berrier, was fired midway through the 2011 season, RCR tapped Lambert to take over crew chiefing duties of the No. 31. Lambert moved to RCR's Nationwide Series No. 2 car to be Elliott Sadler's crew chief in 2012. The duo won four races and finished second in the standings. As a result of that successful season, he was moved back up to the Cup Series to Burton's No. 31 car again in 2013. While Burton left the team at the end  of 2013, Lambert stayed on with new driver Ryan Newman in 2014. In his first season with Newman, Lambert guided the team to the Championship 4 in the first season of the new knockout-style playoff format. In 2015, Lambert was suspended six races for illegal tire modifications in the race at Auto Club Speedway. Lambert earned his first Cup win atop the box with Newman at Phoenix Raceway in 2017. When Newman left for Roush Fenway Racing in 2019 to drive the team's No. 6 car, he was replaced in the renumbered No. 8 car by Daniel Hemric , and Lambert remained the crew chief of the car. 2020–2021: Roush Fenway Racing. In 2020, Lambert left RCR to move to Roush Fenway Racing to be the crew chief for their No. 17 car, driven by Chris Buescher. On October 3, 2021, RFR announced that Lambert and their other crew chief, Scott Graves, would be switching teams beginning at the race at the Charlotte Roval, and Lambert reunited with Ryan Newman and became the crew chief of the No. 6, while Graves moved to Buescher's No. 17. Personal life. Lambert is a native of Mount Airy, North Carolina and  graduated from Mount Airy High School in 2001. He graduated from North Carolina State University in 2005 with a degree in mechanical engineering.