Gregory C. Zipadelli, nicknamed "Zippy", (born April 21, 1967) is an American crew chief in

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. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

. He is currently the competition director at

Stewart-Haas Racing Stewart-Haas Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. The team is co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champ ...

. Zipadelli is most notable for being the crew chief of the #20 car for

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His ...

drivers

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He i ...

and

Joey Logano Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Serie ...

from 1999 to 2011. He has won 34 races and two championships in 2002 and 2005 as a crew chief.

Racing career

Zipadelli began his career in the

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...

series, becoming the crew chief for his family's team and immediately winning a championship with driver

Mike McLaughlin Michael McLaughlin (born October 6, 1956) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Nicknamed Magic Shoes, McLaughlin was a perennial fan favorite, winning the Most Popular Driver award in 1997. He also scored several wins and ...

in 1988, at the age of 21. When McLaughlin advanced to the

Busch North Series The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly Busch East Series, Busch North Series, Camping World East Series, and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) an ...

in 1990, Zipadelli joined him, winning five races during the pair's four-year tenure together, and claimed another championship in 1997 as the crew chief for Mike Stefanik. In 1999 he joined

, partnering with

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

champion turned

rookie

. Their accomplishments include the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

Rookie of the Year title, winning a rookie-record 3 races, three

Chase for the NEXTEL Cup The NASCAR playoffs is a championship playoff system used in NASCAR's three national series. The system was founded as 'The Chase for the Championship' on January 21, 2004, and was used exclusively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to 2015. Si ...

appearances, and two championships in 2002 and 2005. The duo of "Smoke" (Stewart) and "Zippy" (Zipadelli) currently have the longest crew chief-driver relationship in NASCAR. However, that relationship ended as of the 2008 season with Stewart's departure from JGR. Beginning in 2009, Stewart moved over to

to drive the #14 Chevrolet. JGR Nationwide driver

took over the driving of the #20 Toyota, with Zipadelli continuing as crew chief. As of December 2011, Zipadelli moved to Stewart-Haas Racing to reunite with Stewart, but as competition director, not as crew chief. Steve Addington, also a former JGR crew chief, headed to SHR in 2012 to fill the role of Stewart's crew chief. It was later announced that Zipadelli would be a part-time crew chief for

Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman i ...

in the Daytona 500 in 2012, with her later 9 races undecided. On October 20, 2013, Zipadelli filled in for Steve Addington as crew chief for the #14 of

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. ...

in the

2013 Camping World RV Sales 500 The 2013 Camping World RV Sales 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on October 20, 2013, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Contested over 188 laps on the 2.66 mile superspeedway, it was the 32nd race of the 2013 Sprint ...

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, as Addington's wife was giving birth. He briefly returned to his role as a crew chief on June 14, 2020, in the

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to ...

when

Chase Briscoe Chase David Wayne Briscoe (born December 15, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. He also owns a World of Outlaws sprin ...

’s crew chief,

Richard Boswell Richard Warner Boswell II (born April 14, 1984) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and crew chief. He works for Stewart-Haas Racing as a crew chief for their No. 98 car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driven by Riley Herbst ...

, was suspended. The race was a success, as Briscoe won, giving Zipadelli his first Xfinity Series win as a crew chief.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zipadelli, Greg People from Berlin, Connecticut 1967 births Living people NASCAR crew chiefs People from Mooresville, North Carolina