MARTINSVILLE, Va. – It was hard to fathom that one of the hottest crew chiefs at the end of the 2018 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series season was seeking a job for 2019.
At the end of last season crew chief Kevin Bellicourt led Justin Haley to two wins and 13 top-10 finishes in the last 14 races of the season – including a defining moment when Haley passed Todd Gilliland on the last lap at Texas Motor Speedway last November to earn their third win of the season and a berth into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.
While Haley finished eighth and third overall in the championship standings, Haley left GMS Racing for Kaulig Racing and a shot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. But with GMS Racing scaling back on their truck program and Haley paired with Nick Harrison for 2019, Bellicourt went searching for his next challenge and found a new task at Bill McAnally Racing.
While Bellicourt would not be calling the shots or turning wrenches in 2019, Bellicourt dove head first into the title of general manager for the K&N West Series powerhouse operation working with drivers Derek Kraus, Hailee Deegan and newcomer Brittney Zamora.
And while the K&N Pro Series West season has one race in the books where Deegan earned her second career win on the Las Vegas Dirt, Bellicourt started the year off in Victory Lane when Kraus edged Ty Gibbs at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway for the win in the K&N East Series opener during speedweeks. Two-for-two, Bellicourt now finds himself back in the Truck Series garage this weekend trading a pen for a stopwatch and guiding Kraus in his second career Truck Series race.
“It’s been great. I miss the Truck Series garage,” Bellicourt told CATCHFENCE.com. “I’ve been having fun in the K&N Series this year, it’s been a lot of fun to go over there and work with Hallie and Derek and Brittney. Being back here is fun (though), I love truck racing.”
During practice on Friday in preparation for Saturday’s fourth Truck Series race of the season, Kraus in his No. 19 ENEOS Chevrolet Silverado was among one of the fastest trucks at the famed 0.526-mile paperclip.
Despite his inexperience and coming off a top-10 finish in his Truck Series debut at ISM Raceway (Phoenix) last November, Kraus is considered a sleeper for the 250-lap race Saturday afternoon and Bellicourt isn’t all that surprised.
“Derek is just an exceptional talent,” Bellicourt proclaimed. “Like I’m pumped to get work with him. He’s really good. He’s flown under the radar, I mean, I think. Just getting to work with him and getting to know him, he’s just very, very good.”
Bellicourt’s laid back demeanor but niche for perfection is blossoming once again. But with a tough field expected for the TrüNorth™ Global 250, Bellicourt and Kraus have kept their expectations modest – but he is confident that his rookie driver can produce more than what they would be satisfied with.
“I told him with the field this year, I mean this is a strong field. If we leave here with a top-10, we don’t have our heads down at all, but I think we have a truck that can run in the top-five, so we want to try and execute that,” Bellicourt added.
Even with his new role taking priority, Bellicourt will have the opportunity to sneak back into the crew chief’s chair at least three more times in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series as BMR expands their program a little more in 2019.
“We’re going to do four races for sure,” Bellicourt said. “Here (Martinsville), Dover, Vegas in the fall, (and) Phoenix in the fall. The K&N schedule spreads out and makes it pretty hard to do anymore, but we might add 1 to that, but we’re not sure.”
Following Saturday’s race, Bellicourt will spend time with his family on Saturday night and most of the day Sunday before making the trek to Charlotte Douglas International Airport where he’ll take a late night flight to the west before showing up in the office on Monday morning for business as usual.
While missing the daily routine of being a top-notch crew chief, the new duty at hand isn’t so bad either.
“I do love being a crew chief just working on race cars and trying to get it to go fast – that’s something I do really enjoy but this is something different, but it’s been adjusting too.
“I enjoy it. It’s different. Anytime you get a chance to broaden your resume that’s a good thing. Being a position where I’m overseeing the whole K&N program and kinda learning how to manage things and I’m doing different things than a crew chief does, just managing budgets and stuff like that and getting acclimated to that. I think it’s good for me. I do enjoy it.”
And while the weekly travel coast-to-coast takes a toll on him and his family, Bellicourt says have the opportunity to work for team owner Bill McAnally – one of the most respected owners in the K&N division makes the challenges and sacrifices all worth it.
“My family stayed back out here (east). I’m doing a lot of red-eyes,” he added. “A lot of back and forth but it’s alright. You do what you gotta do.
“It’s a really good job and Bill is a great guy, a hard racer and fun to work for. I’m just proud to be here.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01
