DONNIE  WINGO   -   02/13/1960

a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief.  A long time fixture on the Cup circuit, Wingo has been around since 1990 and has been the lead man every year through 2013.  In 1990 he started out with Morgan Shepherd and owner Bud Moore and they worked together for two seasons. Together they were able to pull off one of four career wins for Shepherd in the Atlanta 500; finishing fifth in the points that season.  Geoff Bodine took over the Bud Moore ride in 1992, and Wingo led him for two seasons.  The duo paired up for two wins in 1992 and another in 1993.  Late in the season in 1993 Wingo moved over and took over crew chief duties for Lake Speed through the end of 1994.  Speed left Moore in 1995, and was replaced by Dick Trickle.  The duo produced one top 10 finish.  In 1996 Wingo went to Travis Carters team and driver Jimmy Spencer, where he stayed though 2001.  The three posted 13 top five finishes, and a best finish of 14th in the points during that period.  Wingo stayed with Carter through 2002 working with several drivers.  In 2003 he moved to Chip Ganassi's team and led driver Jamie McMurray for three seasons.  They would not post a win, but four times they were runner up (Sonoma, Martinsville, Texas, and Daytona) and had 18 Top 5 finishes.  Wingo was moved to McMurray's team mate Casey Mears for the 2006 season, and the two posted two tops fives.  In 2007 Juan Pable Montoya was hired by Ganassi and he and Wingo he visited victory lane at Sonoma.  Wingo started out 2008 with Montoya, but Ganassi swapped Wingo and Reed Sorenson's crew chief to try and

help the young driver.  In 2009 Wingo left Ganassi Racing and was again teamed up with McMurray at Roush racing and the two won at Talladega.  He worked with David Ragan before moving to the Wood Brothers in 2011.  Due to limited funds and being a single car team, the Wood Brother had run just on the tracks where they thought they could be competitive.  In 2011, in a huge upset, Wingo and driver Trevor Bayne pulled off a win in the Daytona 500.  The Wood Brothers continued to field a part time ride for Bayne with Wingo at the helm.  During those three years they were only able to post two Top 10 finishes.  Wingo was hired by Bob Jenkins who owns Front Row Motorsports to work with his driver David Gilliland.  They failed to post any Top 10 finished; and Jenkins moved Wingo over to work with his other driver Landon Cassill for the following season.  That pairing didn’t produce any results either.  After 17 races in the 2017 season Wingo was replaced by Seth Barbour.  Wingo was promoted to competition director for Front Row Motorsports at that time.  To date Wingo has seven wins, with he win with Bayne in the Daytona 500 being the biggest.

 

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