Jimmy Fennig (born September 15, 1953 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

) is a longtime

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 ...

crew chief. He was the crew chief for

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...

's 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series' championships. Fennig has collected 40 Cup wins as crew chief.

Biography

Fennig raced asphalt and

dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Dust: a genera ...

cars in Wisconsin starting in 1970. He raced as a driver until joining the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1984 for DiGard Motorsports. Fennig moved to the

American Speed Association The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt and dirt tracks in t ...

(ASA) in 1985 for

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...

. In their two seasons together in ASA, the duo had 9 wins, 13

pole positions In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

, and the 1986 championship. Fennig returned to the Winston Cup Series as the crew chief for

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...

at Stavola Brothers Racing in 1987. Earlier, Fennig had owned a car that Allison raced in Wisconsin and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

on Saturday nights. Allison won two races during their two years together, including the 1988 Daytona 500. The following season, he was paired with fellow Wisconsin racer Dick Trickle, who won the 1989 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. Fennig continued to work with then-team owner Bobby Allison until Fennig left the team in October 1996 to join

Roush Racing Roush is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Politics * Glenn Roush (1934–2020), American politician in Montana *J. Edward Roush (1920–2004), United States Representative for Indiana, namesake of: ** J. Edward Roush Lake, a res ...

to become Martin's crew chief. Martin/Fennig had 4 wins in 1997, 24 Top 10s, and 3 poles to finish third in the points. Martin finished second in 1998 points with seven victories. They remained together for three more wins, until they went winless in the 2001 Cup season. Jack Roush moved Fennig to the No. 97 crew to be the crew chief for young

in 2002, and Ben Leslie became the crew chief for Mark Martin. The swap was a success as Busch won the

Nextel Cup Series title in 2004. It was the first year of the Chase for the Cup. Busch dedicated his title to Fennig. Fennig was named the

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

crew chief of the year. He continued in that role until 2006. He started out the season as

Jamie McMurray James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976), nicknamed Jamie Mac, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an analyst for '' Fox NASCAR''. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 to 2018 ...

's crew chief, and he became the head of Roush Racing

Busch 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 ...

effort. Fennig became the crew chief for

David Ragan David Lee Ragan (born December 24, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, and is also an analyst for NASCAR on Fox ...

after Ragan replaced Martin in the #6 car in 2007, and he remained in that role for 2008. For the 2013 season, Fennig replaced Chad Norris as crew chief for

Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. ...

. The pair won in their second race together, at

Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. ...

. Roush talked about Fennig in 2004: "Jimmy Fennig is an unsung hero at Roush Racing. He doesn't do things that create a personal image away from the driver or away from the sponsor or away from the team. He's the trooper that's back there doing everything that he can everyday." Fennig retired after the 2014 season.

References

External links

Biography
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fennig, Jimmy Living people 1953 births Sportspeople from Milwaukee NASCAR crew chiefs Racing drivers from Wisconsin