By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
The news that Kevin Meendering would not be the crew chief of the No. 1 JR Motorsports NASCAR Xfinity Series entry in 2019 came as a surprise to Noah Gragson.
Earlier this week, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Meendering would replace Chad Knaus as the crew chief of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series entry in 2019.
“I don’t know who my crew chief will be. I was reading on Twitter yesterday and I saw (Kevin) Meendering, who I think that is the crew chief for the No. 1 car. I started to put things together and I thought that was the guy who is supposed to be my crew chief, why is he going to be the crew chief of Jimmie Johnson next year? I don’t know who it’s going to be,” Gragson said at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday afternoon.
For the 20-year-old driver from Las Vegas, he wanted to stay with Toyota Racing Development and Joe Gibbs Racing in his progression to the Cup Series. However, he realized that there no room at the inn for him.
“I didn’t have an opportunity to run full-time with Joe Gibbs Racing, which was my number one pick. I wanted to stay within that Toyota Racing camp. They’ve been really good to me. Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) have been a huge part of my career. I really want to thank them but it wasn’t mean to be,” he mentioned.
Despite not knowing who his crew chief will be next season, the 20-year-old driver is focused on finishing out the year with his Kyle Busch Motorsports team and trying to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship.