JIMMY FENNIG - 09/15/1953
was a longtime NASCAR crew chief. He was the crew chief for Kurt Busch's 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Fennig raced asphalt and dirt cars in Wisconsin starting in 1970. He raced until joining the NASCAR Cup Series in 1984 for DiGard Racing. Fennig moved to the American Speed Association (ASA) in 1985 for Mark Martin. In their two seasons together in ASA, the duo had 9 wins, 13 pole positions, and won the 1986 championship. His first full time job in the Cup Series was as the crew chief for Bobby Allison at Stavola Brothers Racing in 1987. Allison won two races during their two years together, including the 1988 Daytona 500. The following season, he was paired with fellow Wisconsin racer Dick Trickle, who won the 1989 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. Fennig continued to work with then-team owner Bobby Allison until Fennig left the team in October 1996 to join Roush Racing to become Martin's crew chief. Martin/Fennig had 4 wins in 1997, and finished third in the points. Martin finished second in 1998 points with seven victories. They remained together for three more wins, until in they did not win in the 2001 NASCAR season.
Jack Roush moved Fennig to the #97 crew to be the crew chief for young Kurt Busch in 2002, and Ben Leslie became the crew chief for Mark Martin. The swap was a success as Busch won the NASCAR Cup Series title in 2004. It was the first year of the Chase for the Cup. Busch dedicated his title to Fennig. Fennig was named the Sporting News crew chief of the year. He continued in that role until 2006. Fennig became the crew chief for David Ragan after Ragan replaced Martin in the #6 car in 2007, and he remained in that role for 2009; only posting eight Top 5 finishes over that three year span. Fennig was then paired up with Matt Kenseth in 2010. They had some success claiming eight wins over the next three seasons and made the Chase each year. In 2013 Kenseth left Roush Racing to go to Joe Gibbs Racing, and Fennig became the new crew chief for Carl Edwards. They got two wins, and made the Chase, but the team had back luck and mechanical issues relegating Edwards to 13th in the points. Fennig/Edwards paired together again for the 2014 season. They won twice and had seven Top 5 finishes. Edwards could only finish ninth in the points. So far in his career, Fennig has 40 wins with five different drivers. Some more notable wins include the 1988 Daytona 500 with Bobby Allison; 2012 Daytona 500 win with Matt Kenseth, and 2004 Cup Championship with Kurt Busch. His drivers have finished in the top five in points seven times. In 2020 Fennig was named Executive Vice President at Roush Racing.
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