Michael Matthew Bugarewicz (pronounced "bug-uh-rav-itch"; born January 22, 1982), nicknamed "Buga", is an American

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 ...

team executive who works for Stewart-Haas Racing as their performance director. He also is currently serving as their interim crew chief for their No. 14 car 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, ...

driven by

Chase Briscoe Chase David Wayne Briscoe (born December 15, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry, Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He also ...

. He previously served as the permanent crew chief of that car from 2016 to 2019 when it was driven by

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed "Smoke", is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver, and former NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. He currently competes in the NHRA Top Fuel class. He is a four-t ...

and

Clint Bowyer Clinton Aaron Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado ...

as well as from 2020 to 2021 on their No. 10 car driven by

Aric Almirola Aric Michael Almirola (born March 14, 1984) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Almirola previously compete ...

Racing career

Prior to being a crew chief, he was the engineer for

Kevin Harvick Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for '' NASCAR on Fox''. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewa ...

's No. 4 team at SHR, where he won the 2014 championship with him as well as a second-place points finish in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, which included a remarkable thirteen second-place race finishes and 28 top-10 race finishes for Harvick and the team that year. He currently serves as director of performance for SHR. In 2016, he was promoted to crew chief for SHR's No. 14 team, where he worked with

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

from

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. In 2020, he became the crew chief for SHR's No. 10 Ford Mustang driven by

for Stewart-Haas Racing in a swap with Johnny Klausmeier, who moved from the No. 10 car to the No. 14 car. He was promoted to Performance Director for SHR in 2022. On May 31, 2023, NASCAR issued an L3 penalty to

and the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team after a counterfeit part was found on the car after it was taken to the NASCAR R&D Center after the

Coca-Cola 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the firs ...

. Crew chief Johnny Klausmeier was suspended for the next six races (Gateway, Sonoma, Nashville, the Chicago Street Course, Atlanta and New Hampshire) The team decided not to appeal the penalty and Bugarewicz returned to crew chief for SHR for Briscoe in these six races.

References

External links

* 1982 births Living people People from Lehighton, Pennsylvania NASCAR crew chiefs {{NASCAR-bio-stub