JGR announced today, Dec. 16, that Jason Ratcliff will be moving from Nationwide to Cup in 2012. Jason Ratcliff will be crew chief for the 20 team with driver Joey Logano. Ratcliff is replacing Greg Zipadelli who has been with JGR for 13 years winning 2 championships with Tony Stewart.
Ratcliff said, "I'm excited about the opportunity to join our Cup operation and work with Joey and everyone on the 20 team."
Jason was the crew chief for Kyle Busch's Nationwide car in 2011 just missing the owner's championship. Ratcliff has won 30 races, with 68 top-five, and 85 top-10 finishes.
"There is a great history with this program and we have two of the best sponsors in the sport with The Home Depot and Dollar General. I've had the opportunity to work with Joey a few times now on the Nationwide side so there is a familiarity there, but I'm looking forward to getting started fulltime and working alongside Dave [Rogers] and Darian [Grubb]" Ratcliff said.
I think that this is a great pairing. I know that Joey is capable of a lot more than people think. Zippy and Logano may not have been a good driver-crew chief relationship. I think JGR was smart to change that before 2012 and I hope the 20 team has a more positive year in 2012.
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