Associated Press
CHARLOTTE ó Chip Ganassi swapped crew chiefs for Juan Pablo Montoya and Reed Sorenson on Tuesday in an attempt to resuscitate his struggling NASCAR team.
Donnie Wingo, who has worked with Montoya since his move to NASCAR midway through 2006, will now run Sorensonís No. 41 Dodge. Jimmy Elledge leaves Sorenson after 80 races to run the No. 42 Dodge for Montoya.
iI really feel that these changes can be instrumental in moving Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates to the next level,î Ganassi said. iI have a lot of respect for both Donnie and Jimmy and the jobs that they do and they both agree that this move can be very beneficial to the entire organization.
iI have said all along that I believe us to be a championship organization and that Felix and I will do whatever we can to make us better. This is toward that end.î
Ganassi has been outspoken in his displeasure with his NASCAR teams this season, and went public two weeks ago when Dario Franchitti failed to qualifyfor the race in Texas. The owner called the failure ipatheticî in a blistering rant.
He held a team meeting last Monday and emerged from it believing the organization was close to turning a corner, and Franchitti did qualify for Saturday nightís race in Phoenix and finished 32nd.
But Sorenson crashed and finished 42nd ó his fifth finish this year of 31st or worse ó and dropped to 31st in the standings.