Jason Ratcliff looking forward to Matt Kenseth’s arrival at JGR

September 9, 2012 Greg Engle Main Page, NASCAR News Top Story, Top Stories 0

Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 Best Buy Ford, looks on from in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 7, 2012 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 Best Buy Ford, looks on from in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 7, 2012 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

RICHMOND, Va. — The way crew chief Jason Ratcliff sees it, he still has plenty of unfinished business this season with driver Joey Logano, but that doesn’t keep Ratcliff from looking forward to next year with relish.

Ratcliff will stay with the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team when Matt Kenseth succeeds Logano in that ride. JGR’s best efforts to put Logano in a fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup car stalled for lack of funding, and Logano found a new home at Penske Racing.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Ratcliff said of his imminent association with Kenseth. “I got to talk to him recently for the first time, and I think he could have a huge influence on the organization. With the experience he has, there’s no substitute for that, and I’m looking forward to what he has to bring to Joe Gibbs Racing.”

Ratcliff, in his first season as a Cup crew chief, still has 11 races left with Logano. Together, they engineered Logano’s second career Cup win this season, at Pocono.

“We all wish that Joey was staying,” Ratcliff said. “I’m just glad he’s got a good opportunity (with Penske). But we still have 11 races left, and he’s done a great job.”

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Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. 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.