TAYLOR  MOYER   -   01/14/1988

A native of Shoreham, VT and graduate of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  He began working at HMS at the age of 19 as a member of the developmental pit crew.  From there, he climbed the ladder system to the parts department, chassis and body shop, and race shop – ultimately becoming a race engineer.  Moyer collected one win, nine top-five and 33 top-10 finishes as a NASCAR Cup Series race engineer between working with the #5 team and driver Kasey Kahne and #24 team and rookie driver William Byron.  In 2019, Moyer saw himself first climb atop the pit box to make the calls on race day.  He was put in charge of the #8 race car; a car that shared a number of drivers.  The team uses it as a platform to audition new drivers and made a ride available for veterans for special events.  Dale Earnhardt Jr came out of retirement to drive the #8 at Darlington in 2019.  He ran well and finished fifth.  In 33 starts that season he led nine different drivers; and they accumulated seven Top 5 results and 23 Top 10 finishes.  They team almost broke through and got a win at Phoenix as Ryan Truex finished second.  For 2020, Moyer will be back in the same role with the #8 car.   His goal was to post enough wins and good finishes to claim the Owners Championship. Moyer worked with three different drivers in 2020. He only worked with Daniel

Hemric for 21 races in 2020.  They run well when Hemric didn't crash or have mechanical issues.  He posted 12 finishes in 14 races he didn't have issues.  They finishes second twice; seven Top 5 and 12 Top 10 results.  He made eleven starts will Jeb Burton; and much like Hemric; when he didn't have issues they had Top 10 finishes.  In eleven starts they made six Top 10 and three Top 5 finishes with a best of second at Richmond. His other driver was Dale Earnhardt Jr who made one start and finished fifth. So for the season Moyer's drivers made 33 starts; had eleven Top 5 and 19 Top 10 finishes.  Moyer was back to call the shots for the #8 car in 2021 with various drivers at the wheel.  Most of the season was spent calling the shots for Josh Berry (12 races) and Sam Mayer (17 races).  Both drivers ran well under Moyers leadership.  Mayer had a shot to win on a couple occasions; but bad luck intervened.  Mayer posted one Top 5 and six Top 10’s.  Meanwhile Josh Berry had a great season.  In his 12 starts, he claimed two wins; and two second place finishes.  He had six Top 5’s and finished in the Top 10 in all twelve starts.  Taylor Moyer paired with Sam Mayer in the Xfinity series in 2022.  They had many top five finishes; but wasn't able to break through and get the rookie a win.  They finished second at Talladega; with third place finishes at Texas, Richmond and Charlotte.  They scored enough points to make the Chase and finished well in each round.  In the final race before the cut to the championship four; Mayer was racing at Martinsville and in a must win situation.  He was never able to race with the leaders and compete for the win, and finished sixth in the race.  He ended the season seventh in season points.  JRM is switching up it's crew chiefs for 2023.  Moyer will move from the #1 car; and lead the efforts of the #8 driven by Josh Berry in 2023.  After Berry had a successful 2022, claiming three wins, it was expected this new duo would rack up several wins and have a shot to win the championship.  Daytona started off well with a lead lap finish and managed to leave the track with the car in one piece.  After that they run off a string of top ten finishes over the next seven races.  At Dover, they finished second and also finished second later at Michigan.  But it was disappointing as they never were able to get to the winners circle.  They did make the playoffs on points, but a crash at Bristol left them in 36th.  The next race they were involved in a crash and finished 27th, which left the going to the Roval in a must win situation.  There, they finished third and was eliminated from the Chase.  Kevin Harvick retired from the Cup series at the end of 2023, and Berry was picked to replace him in the #4 car.  Sammy Smith moved over from JRG to wheel the #8 and will be led by Meendering in 2024.

 

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