Mike Ford (NASCAR)
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Michael “Mike” Ford (born April 13, 1970) 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 ...
crew chief from
Morristown, Tennessee Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city lies within the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, Ridge and Valley regi ...
who most recently was known to be working for
RSS Racing RSS Racing (also known as Ryan Shane Sieg Racing) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is owned by Rod Sieg and Pamela Sieg. The team currently fields three cars: the No ...
in the
NASCAR 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 NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...
. Ford resides in Stanley, North Carolina with his wife, Robin, and their two children Alex and Austin.


Career

Ford's racing career began in the late 1980s when he worked at SABCO Racing under the direction of Gary Nelson, who now works as NASCAR's vice president of research and development. Ford's duties included a little bit of everything, including suspension work and car set-up.


1990s–2005: Dale Jarrett and Bill Elliott (Yates and Evernham)

Before landing his first crew chiefing job with
Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott Sr. (born October 8, 1955), also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Superstar Racing Experienc ...
’s
team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...
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 ...
, Ford worked as a mechanic and jackman with
Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is an American former race car driver and current racing commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series ...
's No. 88 team for
Robert Yates Racing Yates Racing was an American stock car racing team that competed in NASCAR through the 2009 season, after which it merged into Richard Petty Motorsports. Previously known as Robert Yates Racing, the team was owned by Doug Yates, who has offici ...
from 1996 to 1999. During that time, Jarrett never finished lower than third in points, won the
1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 51st season of professional Stock car racing in the United States, the 28th modern-era Cup series, and the last Cup season of the 1990s and the 20th century. The season began on Sunday, February 7, a ...
championship, the
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
, and scored victories in the
Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the ...
in 1996 and 1999. The team won a total of 18 races during the four-year period. 2000 was the last year of Elliott's tenure as an owner/driver, and when he moved to the new
Evernham Motorsports Evernham Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing organization that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 2000 by former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Ray Evernham, entering full-time competition as a two-c ...
team starting in
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 ...
(and continuing through
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 ...
), Ford continued as his crew chief. With Evernham, Elliott and Mike Ford won four races, including the 2002 Brickyard 400. When Elliott semi-retired after the 2003 season, Ford did not continue with the No. 9 team for Evernham with their new driver, rookie
Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American professional dirt track racing and stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet SS for Richard Childress Racing. Currently, K ...
, and Ford instead rejoined Yates and Jarrett's No. 88 team, this time as crew chief. Ford led Jarrett to a victory in the 2004
Budweiser Shootout The Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium is an annual non-championship pre-season NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event held in February before the season-opening Daytona 500. The event was held each year at Daytona International Speedway from the ...
at Daytona to start the year. Ford hired Russ Salerno as his Pit Crew Coach in 2004 to help with pit crew performance.


2005–2011: Joe Gibbs Racing (Jason Leffler and Denny Hamlin)

After 11 races in
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 ...
, Ford left RYR and was later announced as the new crew chief for
Jason Leffler Jason Charles Leffler (September 16, 1975 – June 12, 2013) was an American professional open-wheel and stock car racing driver. Leffler began racing in the open-wheel ranks, competing in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 before moving to primari ...
and the
Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, ...
No. 11 team starting at
Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
, replacing rookie crew chief Dave Rogers, who was taken and reassigned within JGR after the team did not qualify for the Coca-Cola 600. After the team still was not improving to the level the team wanted and expected, Leffler was also released and was replaced on an interim basis 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 ...
(whose brother Bobby was driving for Gibbs in the No. 18 at the time), and later their Busch Series drivers J. J. Yeley and
Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He also co-owns and op ...
. Ford worked with Hamlin full-time in 2006 when he got the ride. The two started off on a high note, winning the Budweiser Shootout, and sweeping both races at Pocono. Hamlin won Rookie of the Year in 2006 and finished an impressive third in points. In 2007, Ford and Hamlin won one race at
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
in June and finished twelfth in points, their lowest points finish together. They had a similar year in 2008, winning once at the spring Martinsville race but improving to eighth in points. As crew chief of the No. 11 car, Mike Ford won 17 races and had championship finishes of 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 9th, and 12th. Ford and Hamlin never missed the chase in their six years paired together. On Dec 6th, 2011, Joe Gibbs Racing released Ford after a dismal year in
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, only winning one race and dropping to ninth in points.


2012–present (Richard Petty Motorsports, BK Racing, Athenian Motorsports, RSS Racing)

On April 30, 2012, he replaced Greg Erwin as crew chief for the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, driven by Aric Almirola, for the rest of the 2012 season. On September 10, 2012, Richard Petty Motorsports announced that they would swap crew chiefs between their two teams, with Ford moving from Almirola's No. 43 to the No. 9 of
Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ross Ambrose (born 1 September 1976) is an Australian former racing driver and current Garry Rogers Motorsport competition director. He won the Australian V8 Supercar series' championship in 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series, 2003 and ...
, while Ambrose's crew chief, Todd Parrott, would become the new crew chief for the No. 43. However, after just seven races, Richard Petty Motorsports announced on October 30, 2012, that Ford was no longer with the organization and would be replaced by Drew Blickensderfer as Ambrose's crew chief. In December 2012, Ford was hired as the competition director for
BK Racing BK Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that fielded entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series from 2012 to 2018. It most recently fielded the No. 23 Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion (Americas), Ford Fusion for J. J. Yeley ...
. He left BK Racing in October 2014 for Athenian Motorsports through the majority of 2015. Ford returned to BK in a crew chief role for the 2016 Daytona 500, working with the part-time No. 26 and No. 93 teams as crew chief for Robert Richardson, Jr. and Ryan Ellis. In 2017, he was hired as the competition director for GMS Racing’s No. 23 team in the Xfinity Series. On April 10, 2018, it was announced that Ford had rejoined Sieg's team in some sort of consultant role. It is unclear if Ford is still working for them today.


References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20071014043652/http://joegibbsracing.com/current_season/jgr_nc_11/nc_11_crew_chief.php *http://www.nascar.com/drivers/ccps/mford00/index.html *http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/story/Crew-chiefs-Luke-Lambert-Mike-Ford-Drew-Blickensderfer-make-moves-102912


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Mike 1970 births Living people NASCAR crew chiefs Sportspeople from Gaston County, North Carolina Sportspeople from Morristown, Tennessee