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The struggles for the Ford teams have been well documented this season.  There is even a tidbit on Jayski’s Cup Series page right now about how this is Ford’s longest winless drought to start a season since 1983.  And those struggles haven’t just been on the Cup side.  Roush Fenway’s Nationwide Series program hasn’t been as strong this season as they’ve been in past years.  Carl Edwards has led the way, but for a time, two of the other RFR teams were outside the top 30 in points.  The #16 team has since raced their way back in, but the #6 team remains 102 points out of a guaranteed starting spot.  The one Ford team that did have a moderate amount of success over the first part of the season, especially with limited resources, was Baker Curb Racing’s #27 team with Greg Biffle.

After Eddie Pardue was dismissed as crew chief of RFR’s #16 a few weeks back, Ben Leslie took over as the interim boss.  It was announced this week however, that starting at Road America the #16 team would have a new leader; none other then Baker Curb’s Ricky Viers.

With Red Man tobacco on the hood, Greg Biffle behind the wheel, and Viers calling the shots, Baker Curb’s #27 was the best running Ford in several races this season.  They managed to finish second twice, just missing wins at Las Vegas and Richmond. 

A new FDA regulation that basically ends tobacco advertisements curtailed Red Man’s sponsorship, and with the team’s future in jeopardy, Roush took the opportunity to bring Viers on board.  Who better to help turn around your company’s NNS program then the guy who’s been beating you all season?

Viers joins Drew Blickensderfer, Matt Puccia, and Mike Kelley as crew chiefs at Roush Fenway, and the pressure is on these four to slow down Joe Gibbs Racing’s dominance of the series.

Besides hopefully helping the whole program, Viers is tasked with making contenders out of Roush prospects Colin Braun and Brian Ickler.  Braun and fellow Roush young gun Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have both struggled mightily in their first full seasons, and those struggles have led to their schedules being cut.  Ickler was brought in from Kyle Busch Motorsports to strengthen Roush’s driver development program and fill those holes in the schedule.

The NNS teams tested at Road America today in advance of Saturday’s race, and things may already be looking up for RFR.  Ford drivers were first and second fastest in both sessions, and the combo of Viers and Braun was good for fourth quick.  With Braun’s road racing background, this might be just what this team needs to turn the season around.

We’ve all heard the saying “if you can’t beat them, join them.”  In the ultra competitive world of NASCAR, it becomes “if you can’t beat them, steal what makes them better then you.”

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It’s been a big week for change in the NASCAR world.  In the span of a few days we’ve had Kelly Bires get replaced at Jr. Motorsports and Kasey Kahne announce his defection from RPM to join Hendrick Motorsports in 2012.  And it’s funny, because I heard somebody say early in the week that it was a slow news week because the John Wes Townley story was getting some decent run.  Besides the big changes you’ve been hearing about all over the place, this time of year means other changes for teams too.

The changes I’m referring to are those that happen within the teams.  When the season starts, many teams have new faces.  Sometimes that might mean one or two new guys, and in other cases it means the whole team.  But as we get through the first few races of the season, team management expects those new faces, and the old ones, to start having some chemistry.

Let me give you an example.  Every pit crew guy knows that he is only as good as his last race.  An established guy can go from being comfy in his job, to on the street real quick.  It only takes a few missteps on pit road to get the ax.  Through the first few races of the season, coaches and crew chiefs understand that there is going to be a bit of a transition period going from the off season to running races every weekend.  It will take the pit crews a few races to work out the small kinks and to get really comfortable together.  But once we start getting into the fourth, fifth, and sixth races, the important people expect those kinks to get worked out.  If they don’t get fixed, heads will roll.  We’ve seen a few of these changes across all three series already this year, and its only April.

Pit crew guys aren’t the only ones at risk either.  One story this week that didn’t get a ton of attention was Roush Fenway Racing making a crew chief change for young Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Crew chief Ben Leslie was replaced by Mike Kelley, who himself had been replaced by Drew Blickensderfer earlier in the season atop Carl Edwards’ NNS pit box.  Leslie will now move into the role of Nationwide Series Competition Director for RFR, the position most recently held by Kelley.  If a driver/crew chief combination isn’t working, team owners like Jack Roush are not going to wait long to make a change.  There is too much at stake.  Especially with a young driver, Roush wants to know if these kids have what it takes to get it done.  Pairing Stenhouse with a veteran guy like Kelley should make that picture a little clearer.

As the saying says, the only constant is change.  And change is certainly on.  Teams are trying to get better every week, and Kahne’s move signals the start of yet another Silly Season.

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