DOVER, Del. — Tony Gibson, crew chief for Ryan Newman, is expected to move to Danica Patrick’s No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet next season, along with the rest of Newman’s No. 39 crew, when Patrick goes full-time in the Sprint Cup Series.
“I’m looking at all the options right now,” said Greg Zipadelli, director of competition for Stewart-Haas and crew chief for Patrick’s limited Cup schedule this season. “In the next week or two, we’ll make some decisions and let it go from there.”
The anticipated move will pair Patrick with a crew that has worked with a high-profile driver in the past, notably Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Dale Earnhardt Inc.
“They’re a good group,” Zipadelli said. “They work well together — good, bad… They’ve worked with a lot of different drivers. I’ve got a lot of respect for Gibson. His glass is always half full. He’s always upbeat. He loves what he does.
“Right now, that’s kind of how I’m looking at it. It’s easier to do that than to bring somebody else in that we don’t know as well as we know him and his disposition and his attitude. I think he’d add an awful lot to her and that program.”
Zipadelli also said he has candidates in mind to replace Gibson on Newman’s car.
“We’re talking to a few of those guys right now — nobody we can talk about, but yeah,” Zipadelli said. “Not yet, but maybe next week…
“We’ve either got to pick that program up, or it’s going to blow up, you know what I mean. We’re trying to look at what’s best for everything. Right now we haven’t made decisions on everything we’re doing yet, but I’m trying to get all the pieces to fall together pretty quick, so we can move on.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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