CONCORD, NC (November 22, 2011) – Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates announced today that Chris Heroy has been named crew chief of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet with driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Heroy takes over the role effective immediately in preparation for the 2012 season.
“We are very excited to bring Chris into the organization and to have him work with Juan Pablo,” said Team Owner Chip Ganassi. “We think he will be a great addition to the Target team and believe his combined engineering and crew chief background should help him work well with both our engineers and competition folks to move our program forward. He has a great reputation in the industry and we are happy to bring him into the mix.”
Heroy joins Earnhardt Ganassi Racing from Hendrick Motorsports where he began in 2004, most recently as lead engineer on the No. 5 car for six of the previous seven years. The other year he held the same role on the No. 88. In addition, he was paired with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson as crew chief in a number or their Nationwide Series races during the 2011 season. Prior to his time with Hendrick Motorsports Heroy was an engineer in the Toyota Atlantic Series for five seasons. He is a graduate of Colorado College and he and his wife Renee reside in Charlotte, NC.
“I am really looking forward to working with the guys in the shop at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to help the 42 improve their performance,” said Heroy. “Juan Pablo is a great driver and they have a lot of great people here, so I am thrilled to get this opportunity.”
In 2012, Juan Pablo Montoya will begin his sixth year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It will mark his fourth season with primary sponsor Target. He finished the 2011 season 21st in the standings. The Colombia native has two wins, seven poles, 20 top-five and 49 top-10s out of 181 NSCS starts. In 2009, Montoya made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and finished out the season a career-best eighth in the standings. He is the only foreign-born driver to have multiple wins in NASCAR’s elite series. Montoya is a former Indianapolis 500 winner, CART Champion and a seven-time winner in Formula One.
Interim crew chief Jim Pohlman, who took over the No. 42 team at the end of July, will remain with the organization.
For more information log onto www.earnhardtganassi.com
