Kevin R. Manion (born June 24, 1972), nicknamed Bono, is an American

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 ...

crew chief for

Spire Motorsports Spire Motorsports is an American auto racing organization competing in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team is a subsidiary of Spire Sports + Entertainment. In the Cup Series, the team currently fields two Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 teams: the No. 7 for Cor ...

in the

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

. He is a two-time consecutive

NASCAR Xfinity 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 ...

championship-winning crew chief and the

2010 Daytona 500 The 2010 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The 52nd running of the Daytona 500, it was held on February 14, 2010, in Daytona Beach, Florida, at Daytona International Speedway, before a crowd of abo ...

and 2010 Brickyard 400-winning crew chief.

Early life

Manion was born in

Boylston, Massachusetts Boylston is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,849 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History Boylston was first settled by Europeans around 1706 in the nor ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He helped Bobby Fuller in the NASCAR Winston Modified Series at the age of 14. His first job was cleaning the car plus general mechanic work. Eventually he was promoted to tire changer. Between 1988 and 1992 he worked as a crew chief for Chris Woods on Late Models at Riverside Park in

Agawam, Massachusetts Agawam is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,692 at the 2020 census. Agawam sits on the western side of the Connecticut River, directly across from Springfield, Massachusetts ...

. Manion became the crew chief at Sheba Racing in Hudson, Massachusetts in 1993. His team worked a Modified car for Jeff Fuller and

Steve Park Stephen Park (born August 23, 1967) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He won races in NASCAR's two top Northeast touring series ( Modified and K&N East) and all three national divisions (Truck, Busch, Cup Series). Park ...

Tommy Baldwin Thomas Baldwin (born 10 June 1945) is an English former footballer who played in The Football League for Arsenal, Chelsea, Millwall, Manchester United and Brentford. He was capped twice by England at under-23 level. It was thought that Tommy B ...

became the crew chief in 1993 and Manion became his main man. Steve Park, the team's driver, missed the 1993 championship by just three points.

NASCAR career

In 1995, Manion and friend Tommy Baldwin, moved to North Carolina to further their racing career landing the job of general mechanics for the 41 car of Larry Hedrick Motorsports. The team had Ricky Craven as the driver and a crew chief of Charley Pressley. During this time, Manion and Baldwin shared a house and were later, in 1997, joined by Steve Park. Park's move coincided with his becoming the driver of the No. 3

Nationwide 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 ...

car owned by Dale and Teresa Earnhardt. Manion would join

Dale Earnhardt Inc. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) was a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, to compete in the NASCAR series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States. From 1998 to 2009, th ...

shortly after Park's move. Manion became the crew chief of the No. 1 Chevrolet in Sprint Cup but later he was specially selected by

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving t ...

and

Teresa Earnhardt Teresa Earnhardt (née Houston; born October 29, 1958) is the third wife and widow of Dale Earnhardt. She is the biological mother of Taylor Nicole Earnhardt (born December 20, 1988) and she is the stepmother of Kerry Earnhardt, Kelley Earnhardt ...

to head the newly formed

Chance 2 Motorsports Chance 2 Motorsports is a former NASCAR racing team that was founded by Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003. Although connected with Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and run by Teresa Earnhardt after his ...

team in the Busch Series. That team proceeded to win two championships, 12 victories with

Martin Truex Jr. Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...

and three with Earnhardt Jr. Manion went on to receive the Crew Chief of the Year award. In 2006, Manion began leading the No. 1 team in the Cup Series. In 2007, with Truex driving, the team claimed their first Pole Award, seven top-five finishes, 14 top-10s and their first Cup win at

Dover International Speedway Dover Motor Speedway (formerly Dover Downs International Speedway and later Dover International Speedway) is a race track in Dover, Delaware. The track has hosted at least one NASCAR Cup Series race each year since 1969, including two per yea ...

. The win secured Manion's team in the 2007 Chase for the Cup, eventually finishing 11th in points. The team finished 15th in the points for the 2008 season with three top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. When Truex left for

Michael Waltrip Racing Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC, doing business as Michael Waltrip Racing ("MWR"), was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The company was as a 50–50 partnership betwe ...

in 2010,

Jamie McMurray James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976), nicknamed Jamie Mac, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an analyst for ''Fox NASCAR''. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 to 2018 b ...

replaced him as the driver of the

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championsh ...

No. 1 car (DEI had merged with

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

in 2009) and Manion remained the crew chief. He and McMurray won the

and the 2010 Brickyard 400 together. In 2011, Manion fielded a

Whelen Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...

car for Ryan Newman to run at

New Hampshire International Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mil ...

. Newman won the race, but the car's intake manifold did not conform to NASCAR specification. Newman was later stripped of his win. Manion and crew chief Mike LaRochelle were suspended from NASCAR regional touring series events for the remainder of 2011. The win was awarded to Modified Series staple

Todd Szegedy Todd Szegedy (born May 6, 1976) is an American racecar driver. He was the 2003 champion of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Busch Series career In 2004, he competed in three NASCAR Busch Series races for NEMCO Motorsports in the No. 7 and No. 87 ...

. Manion later joined

Tommy Baldwin Racing Tommy Baldwin Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the modified ranks. The team is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, and is owned by former crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr., son of the late modified ...

, working with

Alex Bowman Alex Michael Bowman (born April 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Seri ...

's No. 7, though on May 5, 2015, he joined

Richard Petty Motorsports Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded as a result of the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and Petty Enterprises, with ...

Sam Hornish Jr. Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017. He began his top-tier raci ...

's crew chief on the No. 9. On December 10, Manion announced that he had left RPM. On January 6, 2016, it was announced Manion would become crew chief for a

Kyle Busch Motorsports Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. They formerly competed in the CARS Tour, ARCA/CRA Super Series, Southern Super Series, and the ARCA Mena ...

truck shared by

Daniel Suárez Daniel Alejandro Suárez Garza (born January 7, 1992) is a Mexican professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing Team. He previously drove in t ...

and

Cody Coughlin Cody Coughlin (born December 11, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 72 Ford Fusion, and part-time in the ARCA/CRA Super Series and CARS Pro Late Model Tour ...

in the

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

. Manion served as the crew chief for

DGR-Crosley TRICON Garage, formally known as David Gilliland Racing and Team DGR, is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the ARCA Menards Series, the ARCA Menards Series East, the ARCA Menards S ...

's No. 54 truck in 2018, which was fielded for

Bo LeMastus James "Bo" LeMastus (born January 8, 1963) is an American businessman, professional racing driver, and former team owner. He races in the Stadium Super Trucks and formerly competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and ARCA Racing Series. ...

Justin Marks Justin Marks (born March 25, 1981) is an American racing driver, entrepreneur, and current owner of Trackhouse Racing Team in the NASCAR Cup Series. He last competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the No. 93 for Meyer Shank R ...

Kyle Benjamin Kyle S. Benjamin (born November 3, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He most recently competed part-time in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, driving the No. 15 for LFR Chassis, and part-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors ...

, and Chris Eggleston. In 2019, he worked with DGR-Crosley's

Tyler Ankrum Tyler M. Ankrum (born March 6, 2001) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 16 Toyota Tundra for Hattori Racing Enterprises. Ankrum won the 2018 NASCAR ...

and the No. 17 team as they qualified for the Truck Series playoffs. In 2020, he moved to

GMS Racing Petty GMS Motorsports, also known as GMS Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series, is an American professional stock car racing team formed by Richard Petty and Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. and operated by GMS Racing. In the NASCAR Cup Series they field t ...

to become crew chief for Zane Smith on the No. 21. The team change also reunited him with Ankrum, who joined GMS' No. 26. Smith and Manion both returned for a second year in 2021 and won at Martinsville in October to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, where they would finish second in the standings. On November 23, 2021, it was announced that Manion would be leaving GMS to be the crew chief for

in their expansion into the Truck Series.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manion, Kevin Living people 1972 births NASCAR crew chiefs People from Boylston, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts