Lance McGrew (born December 15, 1967) is an American former crew chief for

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 ...

and currently works in their research and development division.

Early life

McGrew's passion for racing started when he just a kid growing up in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

, and attending local dirt track races with his father, Les. McGrew broadened his racing knowledge at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

where he majored in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

BACE Motorsports

McGrew moved to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the early 1990s and joined the BACE Motorsports

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 ...

Busch Series team driven by his future

teammate, Jack Sprague. McGrew started by doing basic tasks such as sweeping the floors and washing the team transporter.

Hendrick Motorsports

In 1999, McGrew joined

as a crew member of the #24 Busch Series team with driver

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 ...

. In 2000, McGrew was named the Nationwide Series crew chief for the #24 Chevrolet, shared by Jeff Gordon and

Ricky Hendrick Joseph Riddick "Ricky" Hendrick IV (April 2, 1980 – October 24, 2004) was an American stock car racing driver and partial owner at Hendrick Motorsports, a NASCAR team that his father Rick Hendrick founded. He was born in Charlotte, North Ca ...

during a limited schedule. Gordon captured the season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, giving McGrew his first career win as a crew chief. McGrew and Ricky Hendrick developed a good relationship during the 2000 season, and the duo was paired up again – this time for a full season in the

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. McGrew guided Hendrick and the No. 17 team to a win at

Kansas Speedway Kansas Speedway (formerly known as Kansas International Speedway in initial planning and construction stages) is a tri-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The track, since its inaugural season of ...

in July of that year, making Hendrick, then 21, the youngest competitor in history to win a Truck Series event at the time. McGrew led the team to one win, eight top-five finishes and 19 top-10s. In 2002, McGrew moved from the Truck Series to the Busch Series and became the crew chief for the #5 Hendrick Motorsports

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

, which was to be driven by Hendrick. The team collected four top-five finishes and eight top-10s. McGrew led

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 #5 Hendrick Motorsports team to win the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Busch Series championship. The title was the first-ever in the Busch Series for Hendrick Motorsports. The #5 team finished the season with three wins, one pole position, 13 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s. McGrew's Busch Series success as crew chief continued in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

with

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 ...

, who drove the #5 Chevy full-time for Hendrick Motorsports. The team ended the season with five wins, five poles, 16 top-five finishes and 22 top-10s en route to a second-place finish in the championship standings. Busch won Rookie of the Year honors. At the end of the 2004 season, McGrew was named crew chief of the #25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, which was driven by Vickers in the

Nextel Cup Series. McGrew helped lead the #25 Hendrick Motorsports team to its best season since

. The team finished 17th in the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

championship standings with five top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, McGrew and the #25 team improved on their previous Cup season by recording a 15th-place finish in the championship standings with one win, one pole, five top-five finishes and nine top-10s. In 2007, McGrew transitioned into a new role at Hendrick Motorsports. McGrew became the crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports research and development team, which played a major role in the organization's development of its Impala SS. In addition to his duties as crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports R&D team, McGrew filled in as crew chief for the #5 JR Motorsports team in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

for six Nationwide Series races. In those six races, McGrew was able to guide the #5 team to Victory Lane at

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway (track complex formerly known as Las Vegas Speedway Park from 1993 to 1996, Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, as the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 to 1990) is a ...

in March with veteran

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford Motor Company, Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career. From 1989 to 2009, Martin wo ...

. Later in the

season, McGrew once again played the crew chief role. This time it was for the young, up-and-coming driver Brad Keselowski, who made his first two career Sprint Cup Series starts in the #25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy. In 2009, McGrew won the

Nationwide 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 a ...

season opening Camping World 300 at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

as Tony Stewart's crew chief on the #80 Chevrolet. He then continued as crew chief of Brad Keselowski's cup car. In his last race working with Keselowski, he earned a seventh-place finish in the

Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. ...

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a egg-shaped oval track in Darlington, South Carolina. The track has hosted a variety of racing events since its inaugural season of racing in 1950; primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The venue has a capacity of 47,00 ...

. On May 28, 2009, it was announce he would replace Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief on an interim basis 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 ...

Earnhardt Jr. finished twelfth at Dover. On October 30, 2009, McGrew was selected as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s full-time crew chief for the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

season. In July 2011, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Kenny Francis would replace him as crew chief for the No. 5 car, as McGrew moves to K&N East to crew chief driver

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrew, Lance Living people 1967 births Sportspeople from Baton Rouge, Louisiana NASCAR crew chiefs