In a shocking announcement, Joe Gibbs Racing announced Wednesday night that crew chief Dave Rogers was leaving his duties as crew chief for rookie Daniel Suarez and taking an indefinite personal leave of absence ahead of Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Scott Graves who lead Suarez to the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship will take over on top of the pit box for the No. 19 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team until further notice.
Graves also won the XFINITY Series championship with Roush Fenway Racing and driver Chris Buescher in 2015.
Rogers has served as a JGR Cup Series crew chief for 271 races and won 18 times with drivers Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin respectively. Last year, he took Edwards to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway and nearly won the championship if not for a late-race crash with fellow title contender Joey Logano.
Wednesday’s announcement was the second big shakeup for one of JGR’s elite Cup teams this season.
In January, Edwards suddenly announced he was leaving the organization to pursue interests outside of racing. Suarez, the Monterrey, Mexico native took the promotion of the new driver of the No. 19 Toyota Camry.
Rogers’ departure comes on the heels of back-to-back seventh-place finishes for the team at Phoenix Raceway and Auto Club Speedway, ending the three-week west coast swing 19th in points.
Joe Gibbs Racing also said that they will announce Graves’ replacement as crew chief of the team’s No. 18 XFINITY Series program next week. That car is being shared by several JGR affiliated drivers this season, including Suarez.
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