Kasey Kahne gets new crew chief for rest of 2017 season

Darian Grubb takes over the crew chief position on Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 team.

Kasey Kahne is getting a new crew chief, effectively immediately, with Darian Grubb taking over the role previously held by Keith Rodden as leader of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team.

Grubb is a longtime crew chief including notable stints with Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart, whom he guided to the 2011 Monster Energy Cup Series standings. He had been working in a behind-the-scenes role with Hendrick before his promotion on Monday.

Kahne, who is not returning to Hendrick next season, currently ranks 15th out of 16 drivers eligible for the playoffs, which began Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. He is five points behind the cutline to transfer to the second round with two Round 1 races remaining.

Kahne opened the postseason with a 21st-place finish Sunday, his 16th result outside the top 10 in the past 17 races. The lone exception was his Brickyard 400 victory in July, which snapped a 102-race winless streak.

Rodden had served as Kahne’s crew chief since the beginning of the 2015 season. The said Rodden will take a different position within the organization for the remainder of the year.

What it means: Although Kahne is leaving Hendrick at the end of the season, he is still championship-eligible and with the No. 5 team underachieving something needed to be done to help Kahne avoid playoff elimination. And Grubb is a superb crew chief who’s won races with every driver he’s been paired with. Only Chad Knaus (81) and Todd Parrott (31) have more victories than Grubb’s 23 among active crew chiefs.

In the big picture, with Kahne being replaced by 19-year-old highly regarded prospect William Byron next season, this could also be a de facto audition for Grubb to see if he can fix what ails the No. 5 team. The veteran crew chief would be a steady presence in helping Byron acclimate to Cup.