Getty Ty Dillon (front) will have a new crew chief.
There will be a change at Petty GMS Motorsports, starting with the trip to Bristol Motor Speedway. The Cup Series organization will make a crew chief change on the No. 42 pit box.
According to a press release, Chad Norris will serve as the interim crew chief for the remainder of the year. He will replace first-year crew chief Jerame Donley while working with Ty Dillon. This move takes place as Petty GMS Motorsports aims to get the best people in place before the 2023 season.
“This year has been a growing year at Petty GMS,” said Joey Cohen, Petty GMS Director of Competition and Engineering. “When the merger happened late last year, we knew it would be tough to come out of the box and win, but also know that to win and be competitive every week, it takes the right people.
“With some of the recent changes we’ve made on the pit crew side, we feel this is the right time to make additional changes and see what areas still require work for the 2023 season.”
Dillon and Donley joined forces at the start of the 2022 Cup Series season. They posted one top-10 finish (Bristol Dirt) in the first 28 races along with an average finish of 21.7. Now Dillon will work with a new crew chief to close out his lone season at Petty GMS.
There Will Be More Changes Taking Place
GettyTy Dillon walks to the grid at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The move to Norris from Donley is the biggest change for Petty GMS, but it will not be the only one that happens. The press release also indicated that there will be additional changes on both the No. 43 and No. 42 teams starting at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“Our goal is to provide both Erik [Jones] and Noah [Gragson] strong teams next season and the opportunities to win races and contend for a championship. We also see opportunity to increase the performance for Ty and the 42 group the remainder of this season. These decisions are what we feel is best for the growth of Petty GMS.”
Petty GMS Motorsports did not provide any details about what these changes will be. The only information provided is that there will be multiple throughout the remainder of the 2022 Cup Series season as the organization tries to become more competitive across the board.
Norris Has Winning Experience as a Crew Chief
GettyChad Norris (left) has extensive experience as a crew chief.
Norris has not served as a crew chief since the 2020 season (Truck Series), but he has experience across the three national series. This includes 18 races in the Cup Series with Carl Edwards (17) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (one). He also served as a crew chief for 281 races in the Xfinity Series, and 49 in the Truck Series.
Norris made his debut as a crew chief during the 2005 Xfinity Series season. He worked with Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin for 12 total races. This includes a win with Kenseth at Darlington Raceway. Norris also registered Xfinity Series wins with Marcos Ambrose (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve), Trevor Bayne (Texas Motor Speedway), and Spencer Gallagher (Talladega Superspeedway).
Norris was within reach of the championship during the 2020 Truck Series season. He sat atop the pit box for Brett Moffitt‘s team, and he guided them to one win (Kansas Speedway) and an appearance in the championship four.
Moffitt ultimately ended the year third in the standings as GMS Racing took the top three spots. Sheldon Creed won the championship while Zane Smith finished second in the standings.