Legendary Crew Chief, Who Once Was the Hottest Asset in Rick Hendrick, Joe Gibbs & Tony Stewart’s Eyes, Credits Impulsive Decision for His NASCAR Eliteness

There were two things that made the Chicago Cup Series race a historical moment. The first, it was NASCAR’S first-ever street race. The second was the fact that Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen won his debut race with his No. 91 Chevy. This is after 60 years that a racer has won his first-ever race in the series. Van Gisbergen’s victory has amazed fans as much as Johnny Rutherford’s victory at Daytona in 1963. No wonder this race broke records and was NASCAR’S most-watched one on NBC platforms in 6 years.

However, this iconic victory has an unsung hero, too. That is Darian Grubb – Director of Performance at Trackhouse Racing and crew chief for the project 91 car. Grubb originally hails from Floyd County, the place that brought his 20-year-old NASCAR career to life. In an interview with WFXR Sports Director Jermaine Ferrell, iconic crew chief Grubb gets candid about the moment an impulsive decision changed his career trajectory and brought him to NASCAR.

Darian Grubb Opens Up About the Right Decisions Taken at the Right Time

When you are the crew chief of the car that made history, it is natural for people to be curious about your journey. Naturally, Jermaine Ferrell asked something that was there in everyone’s minds.

On being asked whether racing was something he had always wanted to be a part of, Grubb replied, “It was always more or less fun. I started out in high school working with the Sweeney brothers, traveling with them, doing some late model races.“

For Grubb, his interest in racing was initially associated with hanging out with the friends he liked. Racing, or anything related, was purely for recreational purposes. The only reason why Grubb started racing, as per his interview, was mostly ‘for the fun of it’. It was this informal dabbling with racing that landed him his first breakthrough job.

“We hung out, worked on cars for the fun of it and I ended up taking an engineering job and I was still racing on the side as a hobby truthfully. And I put my resume on the internet just to see where it went, and a couple of weeks later I’m working for Richard Petty down in North Carolina,” further said Grubb. Who knew that randomly uploading his resume would land him a job with ‘The King’ of NASCAR?

“So the right things happened at the right time. I’ve been fortunate about working with Jeff Agnew and some of those guys back in the day. That’s what kind of got me started and realizing, Hey, you can turn this into a career and it all worked out,” ruminates Grubb.

He clearly hasn’t forgotten his first gig as the crew chief in the 1998 USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series. It is in this race that he assisted Jeff Agnew, who went on to win the Rookie of the Year title.

His further achievements are equally noteworthy. This is not the first time his exceptional talent in the garage has helped NASCAR drivers win races. Grubb has a colorful record of victories over the 20 years of his flourishing career.

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How Grubb Wields His Mechanical Engineering Degree

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The resume posted online by Grubb caught the attention of Petty Enterprises. Here, he went on to design the Dodge Intrepid. Subsequently, he joined Hendrick Motorsports in around 2003. Till 2008, he played the role of lead race engineer, interim crew chief, and crew chief and engineering manager when working with Hendrick. While working with Hendrick, he helped legendary drivers like Casey Mears and Jimmie Johnson earn wins on the racetrack.

His 2009 shift to Stewart-Haas Racing as crew chief led him to win the 2011 Cup series with the legendary Tony Stewart. His further joining of Joe Gibbs Racing has helped prominent drivers like Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards win multiple races. Grubb’s 2016 return to Hendrick Motorsports came as a boon for icons like William Byron, winner of the NASCAR Xfinity series in 2017.

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Thus, what began as a pastime in teenage years, turned out to be the biggest opportunity for Grubb to rewrite NASCAR history. Racing enthusiasts are certainly excited to see who Grubb helps reach victory after Gisbergen.