Performance is at a stand-still for drivers like Burton, Biffle and Almendinger.  They have a handful of top 10 finishes between them this year and have been flying under the radar all season. Making a crew chief change is a perfect opportunity for these teams to get the improvements they have been looking for. 

All of these teams have the potential to finish well every week, they are just missing a certain spark to get to those finishes.  Hopefully these changes will provide that spark.

For Truex Jr’s team, I feel that communication is one of the major issues.  With only three top 10 finishes and many DNF’s this season, a change had to be made.  Earlier in the year, the team replaced their tire changers in hopes of improving performance.  Unfortunately, their luck never improved.  The No. 56 team now has Chad Johnson as crew chief, formally the lead engineer of Micheal Waltrip Racing.

This team has nothing to lose and everything to gain.  We know that Truex has the potential to win races, he just needs a strong team backing to get there.  I think this change will take time to settle in, but will eventually bring improvement to that MWR team.

Montoya seems to be the roller-coaster driver of this season.  He started off the year well and was as high as fourth in points.  However, in five races out of the last ten, he has finished 20th or worse and has now plummeted to 17th in points.  In my opinion, the crew chief is not the problem. 

We’ve seen Montoya lose his temper with other drivers and his own team countless times throughout the year.  I feel like his temper gets in the way of focusing on his job.  Maybe his new crew chief, Jim Pohlman, can keep the Colombian driver level-headed.  If not, I think Ganassi needs to address the situation and figure out a solution for Montoya.  He is a talented driver, he just needs to focus on his race, rather than focusing on who he’s going to box after the race.

In conclusion, I don’t think this will be the last crew chief changes of the season.  Drivers like, Brian Vickers and Jamie McMurray are used to running well, and aren’t having the finishes they need.  Possible crew chief changes?  I guess we’ll just have to keep watching as this season unfolds.

Johnson replaces Pat Tryson, who is being redeployed at MWR. Tryson told ESPN.com that he didn’t know what his new assignment would be. He said:

Somebody always has to be that guy. I wouldn’t say I was part of the problem. As a company we aren’t running well. It’s a strange deal. I really can’t say much.

Johnson said:

This is a good opportunity for me since this is the direction I have always wanted to go in my NASCAR career. Michael Waltrip Racing is a good organization to work with as we have assembled a strong NAPA Racing team and a more-than-capable driver. My goal is the same goal that this team set at the start of 2011 and that goal is to win races and try to get in the top 10 in points.

Truex said:

Chad’s been a great addition to the NAPA team ever since he joined us last season. … His personality and mine mesh really well. We get along great, and he really understands what I am saying. He is extremely good at pulling more information from me to get the answers to questions he has when setting up the car. The communication between he and I is impressive, and we just click. I’m looking forward to what all we can accomplish together as a team.

This may indicate that there was a communication problem between Tryson and Truex. While Truex did not actually say anything about Tryson in his quote, it can seem to imply that there was a communication problem with Tryson, depending on how you interpret his quote.

Truex has been running well, but the team struggles to get good finishes. The team has three top 10s, with a best finish of sixth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But the team also has five finishes of 20th or worse, and sits 22nd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.