Jimmy Makar (born March 24, 1956) was the Senior Vice President of Racing Operations at

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His s ...

. Born in

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

, he was previously a crew chief for

Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champio ...

and

Bobby Labonte Robert Allen Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He also currently competes full-time in the Superstar Racing Experience, driving the No. 18 car. ...

Career

In 1976, at the age of 20 years, Makar began his NASCAR career after being chosen to take his father's

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 ...

Winston 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. ...

car to

Robert Gee Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), Captain Robert Gee (7 May 1876 – 2 August 1960) was an History of Jews in England, English-Jewish recipient of the Victoria Cross and a Conservative Member of Parliament. Biography Born in Leicester, ...

, where he helped with the repairs. After two weeks, he was offered a job at Gee's shop. Makar accepted the job, and moved from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He continued to work at Gee's shop until he was offered a job as a mechanic from

Harry Hyde Harry Hyde (January 17, 1925 – May 13, 1996) was a leading crew chief in NASCAR stock car racing in the 1960s through the 1980s, winning 56 races and 88 pole positions. He was the 1970 championship crew chief for Bobby Isaac. He inspired t ...

in 1979. Two years later, he was hired by Ron Benfield and Buddy Parrott. Makar spent three years with Benfield and Parrott before he was hired by

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

. However, after one season, he moved to Blue Max Racing, where he continued to work to 1990. During

's 1989 championship, Makar was the team's chassis specialist. In 1990, he became a crew chief for the first time. He was the crew chief for Wallace in seven races. During the 1991 season, Makar joined

Penske Racing South Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organiza ...

, where he continued being Wallace's crew chief for 17 races. The combination recorded their first win at

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the m ...

in the spring. Midway through the season, Makar left Penske to work for

Joe Gibbs Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and a ...

, who was building a new team around

, Makar's brother in law. He was Jarrett's crew chief from 1992 to 1994, winning two races together, one of which was

's first win, the

1993 Daytona 500 The 1993 Daytona 500, the 35th running of the event, was held February 14 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup season. Dale Jarrett won the race. Summary Kyle Petty's No. 4 ...

. After Jarrett left following the 1994 season, Makar remained at Joe Gibbs Racing to become

's crew chief. With Labonte, he won 19 races, 143 top-tens and 20 pole positions, as well as the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

championship. In 2002, Makar was assigned to the position of the team's Senior Vice President of Racing Operations, until his retirement at the end of the 2022 racing season. He also assists the team's engineering and aerodynamic departments. Throughout Makar's crew chief career, he won 22 races with three different drivers.

Private life

He is married to Patti (Jarrett) Makar, and has two children, Alex and Dillon. Jimmy is the brother in law of

. His family resides in

Statesville, North Carolina Statesville is a city in and the county seat of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and it is part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. Statesville was established in 1789 by an act of the North Carolina Legislature. The population was r ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makar, Jimmy 1956 births Jarrett family Living people NASCAR crew chiefs People from Morristown, New Jersey Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey