NASCAR: Grubb 'surprised' to be let go at JGR
Although he quickly landed a new job with his old employer, Hendrick Motorsports, veteran NASCAR crew chief Darian Grubb has admitted to surprise at being let go by Joe Gibbs Racing after a four-year stint with the organization.
"I was somewhat surprised,'' Grubb told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio of his reaction to being told early in the Chase playoff series that he might be out of a job as Carl Edwards' crew chief. Edwards went on to finish fifth in the final standings.
"The first conversation I had about it was one week into the Chase – I was told at that point that I needed to get nine more solid weeks in, and I was like, 'Well, I've been through this before,'" related Grubb. "Last time it was six weeks' notice. This time, it was nine.
"...I guess fifth in points just wasn't good enough in some people's eyes, and five points away from running at Homestead."
JGR announced earlier this week that it had replaced Grubb with Dave Rogers
, who the team has moved over from Denny Hamlin's car. This year, Hamlin's crew will be headed by Mike Wheeler, previously with Gibbs' Xfinity Series program, while Grubb will take on a new role with his former employer Hendrick, working with technical director Kenny Francis on the manufacturing of the team's racecars. He told Sirius that the prospect of not being direct involved with the race crews every weekend held a certain appeal."I tell you, it's going to be nice being able to actually say I want to take a weekend off to be able to spend with my family or something if I want to," Grubb said. "I've only had one weekend off in 11 years and that was when I got married."
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