JOE SHEAR JR - ?/?/?
Joe is the son of Joe Shear, a champion stock car racer, with 58 ARTGO wins and many National Short Track Championships. Shear would first call the shots in the NASCAR Series in 1995 for driver Robbie Reiser. They run 17 events and had a best finish if ninth at Nashville. R eiser would go on to be crew chief for Cup driver Matt Kenseth. In 1998, Shear would move to the Truck Series and work for owner Bob Brevak, with his two drivers Tony Roper and Kevin Cywinski. They paired together for four top ten finishes. Shear was with Cywinski full time in 1999 and posted two top five finishes, a best of third at Bristol. In 2002, Shear was hired to work with Tim Sauter full time in the Xfinity Series. It would be the first pairing of Shear and the Sauter brothers (Tim, Johnny, and Jay). Interesting their father Jim Sauter was one of Joe Shear Sr's main rivals. Anyway, in 34 starts, they had seven top ten finishes and finished 13th in the points. 2003 saw Shear only serve as crew chief for one race. It would be the first of a long association with Johnny Sauter. It would be an inauspicious start as the car would suffer drive shaft issues and finish 29th. Shear would work for owner Mike Curb, with various drivers over the next couple years in both the Xfinity and Truck Series. He would get his first Xfinity win as a crew chief in the Xfinity series in 2005; with Johnny Sauter as his driver. The duo would put together a great run at the Milwaukee Mile, as they started on the pole, led 162 laps and got the win. In 2009, Sauter and Shear teamed up to win again, this time at Las Vegas; and this time in the Truck Series.
The pair were together the next three seasons; under owner Mike Curb, with support from ThorSport Racing. In 2010, they would win at Kansas, claim 14 top five finishes, but finish third in points. Things improved in 2011, as in 25 starts they made two trips to the winners circle; coming at Martinsville and Homestead. With 11 top five and 16 top ten finishes they would finish second in points. They would pair together for two wins again in 2012. Both coming at Texas. A drop off in overall performance left them ninth in points however. The 2013 season started with a bang, as the duo grabbed the first two wins of the season, followed by a fourth and fifth place finish. But then Shear was replaced by Jesse Saunders. 2014 saw Shear working for Gene Haas, and his driver Cole Custer for nine races. They would win at Loudon. He found himself at JR Motorsports in 2015 leading the efforts of the "All Star" truck. Custer drove ten races, and would win at Gateway. Kasey Kahne would drive one race and win at Charlotte. Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman, and Kyle Larson also sat behind the controls. Shear would start the year with Custer for six races in 2016. But Shear would leave to work for Maury Gallagher, and be paired again with Johnny Sauter. They would win at Martinsville and Texas late in the year; and go on to claim the Truck Championship. The next two years, the pair would remain together with GMS. They had four wins in 2017; but only finished second in points. 2018 saw them win on six occasions, and have 17 top ten finishes. But the Chase format would be their demise. They made it to the final round; but could finish no better than 12th; which left them in fourth place in the points. Sauter was hired by ThorSports in 2019, and Shear went with him. They won one race but didn't make the final cut for the championship, finishing sixth in points. They were together again in 2020 and 2021, but could not manage to find the winners circle; and Sauter retired from full time racing. Joe Shear Jr paired with Ty Majeski full time in the Truck Series for 2022. When Johnny Sauter decided to run part time; Shear was tabbed to lead the young driver in his first full time NASCAR season. The year started off well as the pair finished seventh at Daytona, and added a tenth at Las Vegas. The next race at Atlanta saw them claim their first top five, with a third place run. They had issues at COTA, and only managed a 30th place finish. The next two races they finished on the lead lap; albeit 11th and 21st place runs. Then they had three straight top five finishes; including a second at Kansas. They had strong enough runs to make the play-offs and in the first round posted finishes of eighth, third, and eighth. The duo broke through and got a win in the Round of Eight, to lock themselves into the Championship race at Phoenix. They won again at Homestead and had good momentum heading into Phoenix. The pair looked strong in that race, finishing in the top five at the end of stage two. They certainly looked like they might be able to snare the Championship. Zane Smith and Majeski tangled while battling up front, as there was two laps to go. Majeski had to pit and fell to the end of the lead lap; while Smith stayed out and restarted near the front . Smith would go on to win the race and the Championship, while Majeski would finish 20th; fourth in season points. Shear was back with Majeski in 2023. They posted six top six finishes in the first seven races. Majeski broke through and got a win at IRP as the playoffs started. But in the next round finishes of 19th and 21st prevented them from advancing. Shear missed four races after receiving a four race ban for a rules infraction. For the season they paired together for one win, eight top fives and 13 top ten finishes. Shear has spent most of his career in the Truck series. After 19 seasons, his drivers have made 350 starts and has 27 wins and 116 top fives. Shear also led Tim Sauter one season in the Xfinity series. They had seven top ten finishes. In six season his drivers made 97 starts and has one win (Johnny Sauter, 2005).
All Photos copyright and are property of their respective owners