Jimmy Fennig (born September 15, 1953 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

) is a longtime

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 ...

crew chief. He was the crew chief for

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 th ...

's 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series' championships. Fennig has collected 40 Cup wins as crew chief.

Biography

Fennig raced asphalt and dirt cars in Wisconsin starting in 1970. He raced as a driver until joining the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1984 for DiGard Motorsports. Fennig moved to the American Speed Association (ASA) in 1985 for Mark Martin. In their two seasons together in ASA, the duo had 9 wins, 13 pole positions, and the 1986 championship. Fennig returned to the Winston Cup Series as the crew chief for

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...

at Stavola Brothers Racing in 1987. Earlier, Fennig had owned a car that Allison raced in Wisconsin and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

on Saturday nights. Allison won two races during their two years together, including the 1988

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of thre ...

. The following season, he was paired with fellow Wisconsin racer Dick Trickle, who won the 1989 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. Fennig continued to work with then-team owner Bobby Allison until Fennig left the team in October 1996 to join

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 ...

to become Martin's crew chief. Martin/Fennig had 4 wins in 1997, 24 Top 10s, and 3 poles to finish third in the points. Martin finished second in 1998 points with seven victories. They remained together for three more wins, until they went winless in the 2001 Cup season.

Jack Roush Jack Roush (born Jackson Earnest Roush on April 19, 1942) is the founder, CEO, and co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, a NASCAR team headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, and is chairman of Roush Enterprises. Roush Enterprises is the ...

moved Fennig to the No. 97 crew to be the crew chief for young

in 2002, and Ben Leslie became the crew chief for Mark Martin. The swap was a success as Busch won the

Nextel Cup Series title in 2004. It was the first year of the Chase for the Cup. Busch dedicated his title to Fennig. Fennig was named the

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crew chief of the year. He continued in that role until 2006. He started out the season as Jamie McMurray's crew chief, and he became the head of Roush Racing

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

effort. Fennig became the crew chief for David Ragan after Ragan replaced Martin in the #6 car in 2007, and he remained in that role for 2008. For the 2013 season, Fennig replaced Chad Norris as crew chief for Carl Edwards. The pair won in their second race together, at

Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020 ...

. Roush talked about Fennig in 2004: "Jimmy Fennig is an unsung hero at Roush Racing. He doesn't do things that create a personal image away from the driver or away from the sponsor or away from the team. He's the trooper that's back there doing everything that he can everyday." Fennig retired after the 2014 season.

References

External links

Biography
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fennig, Jimmy Living people 1953 births Sportspeople from Milwaukee NASCAR crew chiefs Racing drivers from Wisconsin