WHO IS DAVE ROGERS?
A quick personal note: My editor sent me an e-mail asking me to do a story on Dave Rogers. Normally I have a decent memory, but I had to go back to my e-mail twice to remember the name Dave Rogers. Then, like many of you, I asked the same question. Who in the blue hell is Dave Rogers? Turns out he might be the most important person in Kyle Busch’s career. And he was a focal point in one of racing’s biggest scandals last year.
Dave Rogers will take over as Busch’s crew chief after Sunday’s race at Talladega. From the no-pressure department, he replaces Steve Addington, a guy who won 12 races with Busch over the last two Sprint Cup seasons. Rogers is currently the Nationwide crew chief for the No. 20 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch and others won nine times under that number in 2008. Joey Logano has been the primary driver of the No. 20 this season, winning five times. His average finish in 20 starts is seventh. Good hire. Right?
How interesting is it that his Joe Gibbs Racing Web site bio failed to mention Rogers’ suspension for putting magnets on the gas pedal during a Nationwide Series race in Michigan last August. Per The Sporting News:
During dyno testing after Saturday's race, NASCAR discovered magnetic shims placed behind the throttle pedals of both Gibbs cars, a move designed to prevent the pedals from being fully depressed and thereby reducing the peak horsepower readings from the two engines.
In late July, NASCAR had instituted an engine rule change designed to bring Toyota's power more in line with that of other manufacturers'. Before the rule change was made, Toyota's horsepower had measured consistently higher than that of the other car makes during prior dyno testing.
After the shims were removed at Michigan, the peak number of the Gibbs' Toyotas (640 horsepower) was still higher than that of the Chevrolets (636), Fords (634) and Dodges (632).
Rogers was suspended the rest of 2008 and returned for the second race of 2009. In between, he told reporters he wasn’t worried about the cheater label.
“Sometimes you get caught up in the moment, and that’s probably what I did,” Rogers said. “I made a mistake, and I owned up to that mistake, and I didn’t make excuses. If you look back at my career, if you consider why I still work for Joe Gibbs Racing, that’s proof that throughout my career I’ve been an upstanding citizen. I don’t generally make these mistakes, and I feel the competitors I race against respect me for that. I know who I am. I know myself well enough to know that generally I don’t do that sort of thing. I had a lapse in judgment, made an error, but I don’t make a habit of it.”
Rogers joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 1999 and worked under Greg Zipadelli for six seasons. Two of those years yielded championships for Mr. Whopper himself, Tony Stewart. In 2005, Rogers became the first crew chief of the third JGR car to enter NASCAR. He didn’t last a full season. Denny Hamlin took Rogers out of the engineering department to serve as crew chief of his Nationwide ride in 2006, where Rogers has been ever since, minus the massive suspension for putting magnets on a gas pedal.
With all this in mind, here’s a quick analysis of this move.
The good: Busch and Rogers have a history of working together. It won’t be as cold as some of the new driver-crew chief partnerships we’ve seen.
The bad: Rogers isn’t a big name, and Kyle Busch has a tendency to be Kyle Busch. This isn’t Phil Jackson arriving to calm down Kobe Bryant. Also, isn’t it fair to think Busch might get some more random inspections and scrutiny from the NASCAR mafia with his new buddy on board?
The we-don’t-know: For every great crew chief or driver who used his second chance on the big stage to succeed, there are countless more who flat-out couldn’t get it done. For every reclamation project who came back, there’s a Steve Howe.
The we-do-know: A cheater just got promoted.
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Anon...
I agree with many of your points. I don't like it when any driver or crew chief gets caught breaing rules in any series. It's fair to forgive them for their transgressions, but those transgressions have to at least be acknowledged as an analysis of the situation.
It said something about Dave Rogers the crew chief that he has bounced back so quickly. It's also fair to ask whether the problems with Kyle Busch are chemistry related with the existing team (meaning a change should take place,) an issue with the driver (meaning it's the not the crew chief’s fault that Kyle is so...well...Kyle), or just a bad stretch that they should have just tried to get through. Regardless, Steve Addington will have no trouble finding people who want his services as a crew chief...maybe even at JGR.
Regardless, I think we can all agree you'll be able to count on one hand the number of driver/crew chief tandems that will have more pressure on them next season than Kyle Busch and Dave Rogers. How will they handle it? Personally, I think they contend for a title. But I don't think there's a person alive who knows the answer. That's why we lay out points, sometimes be funny, sometimes be funny for the wrong reasons, and create topics that stir conversations. It's also why we're all fans.
As for who in the blue hell I am, I spent ten years working as a reporter and anchor of news and sports. I've learned for every passionate fan who follows every nuance of an event, there's someone who barely can follow the action but thinks the event is pretty cool. Bridging that gap is never easy. But, I hope you'll follow the site to see how we try and make it work for the sake of fun and fans.
It's been debated if it's fair to label Dave Rogers as a "cheater," since he did not do anything to enhance the car to make it go faster (I believe Chad Knaus was suspended twice in the past 3 seasons!!! Not for sticking a magnet under the throttle to deceive readings .. can you blame Rogers for doing this ... hello, he was dominating - so what does Nascar do, take power away .. wasn't Knaus suspended for point blank cheating to enhance the car? In my opinion, there is a huge difference!!) So, regardless - what Dave did should have never been as big of a deal as it was ... I think people like Knaus or Waltrip (fuel!) is a much bigger deal, but yet less controversy. The things that make you go hmmm
Second, yes - Dave briefly was a Crew Chief in 2005 .. for JASON LEFFLER, c'mon - the dude can't drive worth crap!!! He hit the wall more than he kept the car on the track .. that's not really a crew chief issue. There is a huge difference between Kyle and Jason Leffler.
Third, everyone is questioning why promote Dave to replace Addington - did anyone ever stop to think that this very well could have (and probably was) Kyle's doing? Think about it people ..
Why are sports writers the least educated when it comes to something they are writing about!? Obviously the fella that wrote this article doesn't know anything about the Nationwide Series, if he had - he would have definitely known Dave Rogers .. how many races did he win last year? Didn't he win the Owner's Championship? He was plastered ALL over the TV come Saturdays ....who in the blue hell is Dave Farkas ..
Who am I to judge the call of Mr Gibbs, but does this seem not a big gamble with Steve holding down 6th all time in wins among active crew chiefs and Dave with Zero? How do you compare what has taken place here? Steve finished 4th in the last race and gets demoted, so not an accurate comparison but take football, Your head coach just lost the AFC or NFC title so the team is way better than average so we will make him a quaterbacks coach? Best of luck to all parties but untill I see results.... from the outside it look's like a bad move. Seems I remember A crew chief that was replaced by someone with much lower stats not too long ago.
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Now that the 2010 season is over.....I guess we now know who in the hell Dave Rogers is, don't we? This guy sure knows what he's doing and I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say Dave and Kyle just may be the guys to stop Jimmie Johnson and company and win the 2011 Championship.