Mike Shiplett Promoted to No. 41 Team Crew Chief; Mike Bugarewicz Moves to No. 10 Team and John Klausmeier Moves to No. 14 Team; Rodney Childers Remains with No. 4 Team for Seventh Straight Season
Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has announced the 2020 crew chief lineup for its four NASCAR Cup Series teams.
The most notable change is the promotion of crew chief Mike Shiplett to the No. 41 team. SHR brings Shiplett up from its NASCAR Xfinity Series program where he spent the 2019 season guiding Cole Custer to a career-high seven wins and six poles with a runner-up finish in the championship standings. Shiplett will be paired with Custer again in 2020, as the 21-year-old Custer runs for rookie-of-the-year honors.
Crew chiefs John Klausmeier and Mike “Buga” Bugarewicz will swap teams, with Klausmeier going to the No. 14 team of Clint Bowyer and Bugarewicz going to the No. 10 team of Aric Almirola.
Klausmeier has been the No. 10 crew chief since 2018, where he and Almirola combined for 29 top-10 finishes, highlighted by a victory on Oct. 14, 2018, at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The duo made the NASCAR Playoffs in each of their two seasons together, with Almirola finishing a career-best fifth in the 2018 championship.
Bugarewicz has led the No. 14 team since 2016, where he was Tony Stewart’s crew chief for his last NASCAR season before being paired with Bowyer in 2017. Bugarewicz helped Stewart secure his 49th and final NASCAR Cup Series victory at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and continued winning with Bowyer, securing two victories in 2018 – March 26 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and June 10 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn – as part of a three-year stint that garnered 47 top-10s and two appearances in the NASCAR Playoffs.
Rodney Childers returns as Kevin Harvick’s crew chief with the No. 4 team for the seventh straight year. Since joining forces in 2014, Childers and Harvick have combined to produce 26 victories, 25 poles, 106 top-five finishes and 153 top-10s. They have led 9,608 laps and made the Championship 4 five times in the last six years. They won the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series title and have finished runner-up twice, to 2015 champion Kyle Busch and to 2018 champion Joey Logano.
“Our biggest asset at Stewart-Haas Racing is our people, and we strive to put each person in the best position to succeed,” said Greg Zipadelli, Vice President of Competition, SHR. “Our driver/crew chief pairings for next season reflect this ideology, and we believe this lineup provides the best opportunity to win every time we unload our Ford Mustangs at the racetrack.”
About Stewart-Haas Racing:
Stewart-Haas Racing is the title-winning NASCAR team co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America. The Kannapolis, North Carolina-based organization has won two NASCAR Cup Series titles, one NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and more than 70 NASCAR races, including such crown-jewel events as the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500. For more information, please visit us online at www.StewartHaasRacing.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/StewartHaasRacing, on Twitter @StewartHaasRcng and on Instagram @StewartHaasRacing.
