Racer Profile: Jimmy Fennig

February 7, 2008

By Allen Madding

Allen Madding

Jimmy Fennig began racing on the dirt tracks of Wisconsin in 1970, and spent 19 years with the Midwestern Dirt and Asphalt Series before taking his first Cup series job in 1984 with DiGard Racing.

In 1985, Fennig became the crew chief for Mark Martin in the ASA Series and in 1986 the pairing won the championship. Over the two seasons, the two accumulated 13 poles and 9 wins. In 1986, Martin made 5 starts in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series driving for Jerry Gunderman with Fennig serving as his crew chief.

Fennig became crew chief for Bobby Allison at Stavola Brothers Racing in 1987. The pair scored a win their first season together and won the Daytona 500 in 1988. Allison was involved in a tragic accident at Pocono later in the 1988 season that ended his career. The Stavola’s put Mike Alexander in the car of the remainder of the season.

In 1989, the Stavola’s put Dick Trickle in the car, and with Fennig serving as the crew chief, the pair won the NASCAR Winston cup Series Rookie of the Year title.

In 1990, Fennig joined Bobby Allison Motorsports. Over those 6 years, he served as the crew chief for Hut Stricklin, Jimmy Spencer, Jeff Purvis, Derrike Cope, and Chuck Bown, Time Steele, and Mike Alexander.

In October 1996, Fennig accepted an offer from Roush Racing to serve as the crew chief for Mark Martin. During their five years together, the two amassed 14 wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Fennig has remained with Roush Racing ever since.

In 2002, Fennig was named crew chief for Kurt Busch and the No. 97 Sharpie/Rubbermaid Ford team. With Fennig calling the shots, the young Busch scored his first win in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 2002 recording a total 4 wins and a pole for the season. In 2004, Fennig and Busch won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship scoring one pole, three wins, ten top-fives, and 21 top-tens. Fennig was elected Crew Chief of the Year. At the end of 2005, Busch elected to part ways with the Roush team accepting the driving duties for the Penske Racing Miller Genuine Draft team. Together with Busch, the two had recorded 14 wins and two poles.

For 2006, Fennig assumed the duties of crew chief for Jamie McMurray and then moved to the Busch Series for much of the year.

In 2007, Fennig took the challenge of serving as crew chief to Roush Racing’s rookie in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, David Ragan. Under Fennig’s guidance, Ragan recorded a fifth place finish in the Daytona 500 and a third place finish in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond.

Jack Roush has been pleased with Fennig’s performance at Roush Racing over the years, “He doesn’t do things that create a personal image away from the driver or away from the sponsor or away from the team. He’s the trooper that’s back there doing everything that he can everyday.”

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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