Ben Leslie is an American auto mechanic. He is currently employed at Premium Motorsports as the crew chief of their No. 98 car in the

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. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

. He is the younger brother of former Automobile Racing Club of America champion and NASCAR driver Tracy Leslie. Leslie joined NASCAR in 1994 as a mechanic and tire changer on Ted Musgrave's car, which was owned by

Roush Racing Roush is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Politics *Glenn Roush (1934–2020), American politician in Montana * J. Edward Roush (1920–2004), United States Representative for Indiana, namesake of: ** J. Edward Roush Lake, a re ...

. Later, he would go on to hold the same position on Mark Martin's car. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, he moved to Roush's new team, the #26 Ford driven by

Johnny Benson Jonathan Thomas Benson Jr. (born June 27, 1963) is an American retired stock car racing driver and the son of former Michigan modified driver John Benson Sr. Benson has raced across NASCAR's three national series ( Cup, Busch, Truck), and his ...

Jr. Originally serving as the team's car chief, he was promoted to interim crew chief midway through the season and had a pair of ninth-place finishes with Benson. After spending the first part of the 1999 season with Benson, he became the car chief of Matt Kenseth's car, and the team won Rookie of the Year honors in 2000. After several races in

2001 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, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, Leslie was moved to the crew chief position of the #97 team driven by rookie

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...

. Leslie and Busch won the pole at the Mountain Dew Southern 500 and had five top-ten finishes. At the end of the season, he was moved again to Mark Martin's team. They won the Coca-Cola 600 but lost the championship by 38 points. He was moved again at the end of the season to the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford driven by Ricky Rudd, but the team struggled with only five top-tens and dropped to twenty-third in points. After winning one pole and garnering two top-ten finishes with Rudd in

2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 56th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 33rd modern-era Cup series season. The season began on Saturday, February 7, and ended on Sunday, November 21. Kurt Busch, who ...

, Leslie left the Wood Brothers to take a position as field director for Ford Racing. Leslie stayed with Ford for several years before returning to pit road as crew chief of the #28

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 ...

Ford driven by Travis Kvapil. They had two top-twenty finishes, however, the team was shut down after five races due to a lack of sponsorship. Afterwards, he joined Yates' affiliate team,

Hall of Fame Racing Hall of Fame Racing was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing team principally owned by former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman and veteran Trans Am driver Bill Saunders. The team was founded in 2006 and sponsored by Texas Ins ...

as crew chief for Bobby Labonte and eventually

Erik Darnell Erik Darnell (born December 2, 1982) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the grandson of former USAC and NASCAR driver Bay Darnell, who also started three NASCAR races (including one for Holman Moody). Darnell formerly dro ...

for the rest of the season. In 2010 he moved to Roush Fenway's #6 team to be crew chief for rookie

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Richard Lynn Stenhouse Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for JTG Daugherty Racing. Stenhouse was the 2010 Nationw ...

In 2016 he took over as the crew chief for Cole Whitt at Premium Motorsports midway through the season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Ben Living people Date of birth missing (living people) NASCAR crew chiefs Year of birth missing (living people)