Valvoline Racing announced Tuesday that Jay Guy will serve
as crew chief of the #10 Valvoline Pontiac for the remainder
of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup season.
Guy, who served as car chief this season,
replaces James Ince. The team granted Ince his requested
release on Tuesday.
Guy and driver Johnny Benson worked
together Sunday at Kansas where Benson ran as high as third
before an accident.
"There are still several races left in
the season and we want to end the season on a high note by
running well," Guy said. "We hope we can defend our win at
Rockingham and we have a Homestead tire test planned so we
have a busy time coming up. This is a good race team and we
think the hard work will pay dividends before the end of the
year."
Team General Manager Jay Frye said
Ince's tenure will be remembered for its success.
"James has done a lot in helping our
organization grow and his efforts are much appreciated. He
will always be known here as the crew chief who brought us
our first victory," Frye said. "But, we think Jay Guy can be
the person that helps bring us our second victory. Jay has
worked hard for this team and we feel fortunate we have
someone of his caliber ready to take over the controls of
the team."
Ince and Benson's first race came at
Daytona in 2000 when their white car nearly won the Daytona
500. The pair won at Rockingham in 2002 and posted 13
top-five and 30 top-ten finishes together.
Benson is 26th in 2003 driver points.
Benson said he obviously has mixed
feelings about the change. "James Ince is a very good
friend of mine and we have been through a lot together since
2000," Benson said. "Somebody somewhere is going to get a
good crew chief. But, things change in this sport and I'm
really looking forward to working with Jay. We did well
Sunday not just in the race but in our communication and
everyone's attitude was really positive. We still have a
goal of winning a race and I think it would be awesome if we
could do that this season."
Guy's duties begin this weekend at
Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte.
Valvoline Racing is owned by Valvoline
and MB2 Motorsports. MB2 Motorsports owns all of the #01
U.S. Army team.
