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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Nead New Crew Chief For Waltrip
Gene Nead will serve as Michael Waltrip’s crew chief for the rest of the year...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted August 27, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Gene Nead will serve as Michael Waltrip’s crew chief for the rest of the year. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Michael Waltrip Racing announced Thursday that Gene Nead has been named interim crew chief Michael Waltrip and the No. 55 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry.

Robert “Bootie” Barker, Waltrip’s former crew chief, will remain with the organization and will be “assisting engineering with special projects,” according to a release issued by the team.

Nead will begin working for MWR Aug. 31. He will call the final 12 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season for Waltrip. Nead is a familiar face to MWR, having worked for JTG Daugherty Racing who has a technical alliance with MWR. He led the team's NASCAR Nationwide Series program with driver Michael McDowell.

Waltrip currently is 34th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver points standings, while the No. 55 car is 32nd in owner points. This is Waltrip’s last full-time year of driving, as he previously announced that Martin Truex Jr. will replace him next year. Truex will maintain the NAPA sponsorship but his car number will be No. 56 in 2010. Waltrip will run a handful of races next season.

Since becoming a full-time owner driver in 2007, Waltrip has had a variety of crew chiefs, including David Hyder, Bobby Kennedy, Scott Eggleston, Buddy Sisco, Paul Andrews, Barker and now Nead.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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