Robbie Reiser will return as Kenseth’s crew chief

DeWALT crew chief Robby Reiser tells the crew what changes to make on the #17 Ford Fusion of Matt Kenseth Photo via Newscom

Yesterday multiple outlets regurgitated a report from Dave Moody that said Robbie Reiser is likely to return as the crew chief for Matt Kenseth’s #17 next year. The story itself isn’t new as it’s been rumored and hoped for by Ford fans that Reiser would return after the removal of Drew Blickensderfer following Daytona.

Todd Parrott took over and after some early success, based mainly on pit strategy, the results began to taper off and team owner Jack Roush replaced him with Jimmy Fennig. That Fennig wasn’t named crew chief speaks enough about the move that anyone can tell a reuniting of Kenseth and Reiser is inevitable.

Below are some of the quotes that will keep people talking for the coming weeks.

“Robbie wants to come back,” said one source on condition of anonymity, “but he’s doing such a good job as GM that Jack can’t justify making a move right now. Next season, expect to see Reiser back on the pit box, with Robbie Loomis succeeding him as General Manager.”

LAS VEGAS - MARCH 6:  Matt Kenseth drives his #17 DeWalt Ford during the NASCAR Nextel Cup UAW-Daimler Chyrsler 400 Practice on March 6, 2004 at Las Veags Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Even Kenseth has weighed in on the situation and considering the driver had asked for Reiser to return following Blickensderfer’s departure it’s not much of a surprise.

“He probably would have filled in for the rest of the year (and tried) to do both, but there just are not enough hours in a day.”

Kenseth and Reiser will be back together in 2011. It’s a no-brainer as far as decisions go at Roush-Fenway.

The reasons are simple. The most obvious is that the two had success while together winning 16 races and the 2003 Championship. The two never asked to be separated and the decision was not results related but more of a hope by Jack Roush that by putting Reiser in a GM role that he could have even more success across the organization.

Equally as important is that both Reiser and Kenseth, who has a large amount of pull around Roush-Fenway Racing, want to be joined together again.

John Boarman
John Boarmanhttp://www.tireball.com
Founder and Owner of Tireball Sports.

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