Erwin dismissed at Richard Petty Motorsports, Ford takes over

Mike Ford was released at Joe Gibbs Racing last season. Photo credit: Getty Images
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Mike Ford was released at Joe Gibbs Racing last season. Photo credit: Getty Images

Veteran crew chief Mike Ford has replaced Greg Erwin on the No. 43 team and driver Aric Almirola.  Ford was replaced at Joe Gibbs Racing as crew chief for Denny Hamlin last season. Erwin was crew chief for Greg Biffle at Roush-Fenway Racing until joining RPM in the middle of last season as crew chief for AJ Allmendinger.

Ford led the No. 11 team to 17 wins, 66 top-five finishes and 108 top-10 finishes and never missed a Chase appearance.  Ford previously held crew chief roles for Dale Jarrett at Robert Yates Racing and Bill Elliott at Evernham Motorsports.

“Mike Ford is an elite crew chief who knows what it takes to be a winner at this level,” said team owner Richard Petty.  “We’re fortunate that he was available and that we could reach a deal to bring him over to our place.  We’ve taken a lot of big steps at Richard Petty Motorsports in the past year and I think this might be that one piece of the puzzle we were missing.” MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
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.