Brian Whitesell (born April 23, 1964) is an American team manager in the
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States.
The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
from
Stuarts Draft, Virginia. He is the team manager for the
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...
No. 9 team of
Chase Elliott
William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Hendrick Mo ...
and the No. 24 team of
William Byron. He has been part of eight NASCAR Cup Series championship teams (1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2006 and 2007).
Early involvement in racing
Whitesell became involved in racing as a senior at
Virginia Tech
The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...
. He had a senior class project involving the design and construction a
Mini Baja racecar through the
Society of Automotive Engineers
SAE International is a global professional association and standards organization based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, the organization adopted its current name in 2006 to reflect bot ...
(SAE).
[Crew Chief Profile]
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...
, Retrieved September 14, 2007[Engineer on the Fast Track: Brian Whitesell keeps Nascar's winningest cars in the running]
; Virginia Tech
The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...
, Su Clauson-Wicker, Retrieved September 14, 2007 After graduation in 1987, he went to work at
Mack Trucks
Mack Trucks, Inc. is an American truck manufacturing company (law), company and a former manufacturer of buses and Trolleybus, trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1905 and adopted its pr ...
in
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...
, as a
mechanical engineer
Mechanical may refer to:
Machine
* Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement
* Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...
. Whitesell transferred to Mack Trucks' office in
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...
. Whitesell used the office to volunteer for
Alan Kulwicki
Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and "the Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local Short track motor racing, short tracks in Wisconsin bef ...
's underfunded team on weekends as an attempt to get into motorsports in 1992. He drove the team's hauler, spotted, and scored for the team. He was part of Kulwicki's championship team.
Hendrick Motorsports
He joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1993 as a transporter driver, timer/scorer, and chassis technical on rookie
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...
's No. 24 team.
[Man behind the curtain]
Yahoo
Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, an ...
, Bob Margolis, August 17, 2005; Retrieved September 14, 2007 He began using his mechanical engineering degree in 1994 as one of the first engineers in NASCAR.
He was named the
Western Auto Mechanic of the Year in 1997.
The team won three championships in five years. In September 1999 Whitesell was named the
crew chief for Gordon after
Ray Evernham left.
The No. 24 team won two of the next seven races.
After the season, he was named team manager of the No. 24 team, and the team won the 2001 championship.
Hendrick Motorsports added a second team in 2002 in the No. 48 car driven by
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson has won seven Cup ch ...
. Whitesell oversaw the growth the teams. Both teams finished in the Top 5 in points in both 2002 and 2003.
The teams finished second and third in 2004. In 2005 Whitesell was named the team manager for the No. 5 car driven by
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and par ...
, the No. 25 car driven by
Brian Vickers
Brian Lee Vickers (born October 24, 1983) is an American former professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He last drove the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing as an interim driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the i ...
, and the No. 44 car driven part-time by
Terry Labonte
Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed "Texas Terry" or "the Iceman", is an American former stock car racing, stock car driver. He raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NAS ...
.
Announced on May 28, 2009, Whitesell filled in as crew chief for one race, the May 31 running of the
Autism Speaks 400 at
Dover International Speedway
Dover Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Dover International Speedway from 2002 to 2021 and as the Dover Downs International Speedway from 1969 to 2001) is a oval track in Dover, Delaware. The venue has hosted major events since its inaugu ...
, for
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...
In 2015, Whitesell rejoined Gordon's team as a co-spotter for the
Toyota/Save Mart 350
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is a stock car racing event in the NASCAR Cup Series that has been held annually at Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point in Sonoma, California since 1989. The race has been known as the Toyota/Save Mart 350 since 2007.
The r ...
at
Sonoma Raceway
Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Technologies, Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, Cal ...
.
Further reading
Conversation: Brian Whitesell NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
.com; Lee Montgomery, September 29, 2004, Retrieved September 14, 2007
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitesell, Brian
1964 births
Living people
NASCAR crew chiefs
American mechanical engineers
Virginia Tech alumni
People from Augusta County, Virginia
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Engineers from Virginia