ROBIN PEMBERTON - 08/15/?
was a NASCAR crew chief from 1983-2001. Pemberton began his NASCAR career as a mechanic and fabricator with Petty Enterprises in 1979, becoming a crew chief in 1983 for Petty. They won three races that season and finished fourth in points. In 1985, he led Bobby Allison for DiGard racing and posted six top five finishes. In 1986 and 1987 he crew chiefed for several drivers. He moved to Roush Racing at its inception in 1988 and led Mark Martin for four years. Martin won in 1989; it was the first win for Pemberton since he had worked with Petty back in 1983. From 1998-1991 the duo posted five wins together, and finished second and third in the points in 1989 and 1990. For 1992-1993, Pemberton moved to Felix Sabates racing to lead Kyle Petty. Petty won three races in that period. He returned to Roush Racing for 1994 and worked with Ted Musgrave who posted one Top 5 finish. He then moved to Penske Racing South in 1995. He was Rusty Wallace's crew chief from 1995-2001 where he finished his crew chief career. Pemberton was Wallace's crew chief for 230 races, which had been the longest driver/crew chief combination in NASCAR. In 1995 Wallace won twice and finished fifth in points. The following season saw an increase in wins as Wallace won seven times; but fell to seventh in the points. They won one race each of the follow three seasons before having a rebound year in 2000 winning four times. Wallace would win once in 2001: Pemberton’s final season
as crew chief. During his tenure with Wallace they won 15 races. For his career he led his drivers to 26 race wins and finished in the top ten in points 12 of his last 13 seasons.; second in 1990 with Mark Martin. He returned to Petty to serve as general manager in 2002. In 2004 Pemberton moved to assume the position as a NASCAR race official, being named the vice president for competition of NASCAR. Pemberton gained notoriety before and during the 2007 Daytona 500, in particular the 2007 NASCAR Gatorade Duel scandal, when he suspended six crew chiefs for various infractions, and also threw out the director of competition for Michael Waltrip Racing's new team for using an illegal fuel additive during qualifying. Pemberton also penalized the team 100 Cup Series driver and owner points, one of the most severe point penalties in the modern history of NASCAR's top level of racing. His brother Ryan Pemberton was Mark Martin's crew chief in 2007. Martin and Kevin Harvick were battling for the win on the final lap of the 2007 Daytona 500. The race ended under caution flag when a big wreck happened on that final lap. Robin Pemberton determined the exact moment that the caution flag was displayed, which resulted in Harvick being declared the winner and Martin second by just a few inches. At the end of 2015 NASCAR announced that senior vice president of competition Robin Pemberton will leave the organization at the end of the season. Before going to work for NASCAR, Pemberton spent 499 races as a crew chief in NASCAR’s top division, calling the shots for drivers Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Bobby Allison and Kyle Petty, among others, over a 17-year career that stretched from 1985-2001. Pemberton’s drivers won 23 races, with Martin’s second-place points finish to Dale Earnhardt in 1990 being Pemberton’s best as a crew chief. NASCAR vice chairman stated, “NASCAR has seen a great number of technical and safety advancements during Pemberton’s tenure with the sanctioning body. Against the backdrop of the massive NASCAR Research & Development Center, Pemberton’s Competition teams overhauled the inspection and rules process and procedures for all vehicles racing in the national series. He oversaw the transitions of NASCAR to Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) and to race fuels with blended Sunoco E15”. Scott Miller was tabbed as Pemberton’s replacement. Miller most recently served as executive vice president of competition at Michael Waltrip Racing. There he was responsible for managing all areas of competition. During his four-year tenure, MWR teams qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
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