Ambrose will now have Mike Ford atop the pit box, while Almirola will have Todd Parrott as his crew chief.

The goal of this move is to strengthen both teams.

RPM competition director Sammy Johns said:

We’re continuing to make improvements at Richard Petty Motorsports and we’ve added talented people to our organization this season. This move is to make sure that we are using that talent to the fullest to get the best results for our teams each weekend. We feel this adjustment will strengthen the organization, allow us to continue to compete for wins and ultimately challenge for championships.

Parrott said:

Aric has really shown the desire and dedication to get his first Sprint Cup Series win. It was great our team helped lead Marcos to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win and poles. We are now ready to help direct Almirola and the #43 team to the same results and better.

Ford said:

Marcos is a racer who has proven to win poles and races. Our goal is to take my experiences and make sure we can consistently run up front and continue to win races.

In related news, FoxSports.com is reporting that RPM officials met with people from Richard Childress Racing about becoming a satellite organization to RCR, which would mean a switch from Ford to Chevy.

Team owner Richard Petty said:

No comment on anything because I don’t have a clue what’s going on. When we get everything squared away, we’ll talk to you. Other than that, there ain’t nothing. There ain’t nothing there ’til we bring something there, and right now we have nothing.

Parrott said:

[Ambrose and I have] been talking, working on communication. He’s been coming over here, getting fitted for seats. He has some ideas of what he wants, what he’s looking for so the conversations between us have been very good. Once the dust settles and the smoke clears it will all be good. The cars continue to get better. The simulation programs are better. Just look at how the [RPM Nos.] 9 and 43 [of AJ Allmendinger] ran on Sunday at Homestead. I can’t wait to get started.

After the 2010 Daytona 500, Parrott replaced Drew Blickensderfer as crew chief for Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 17 Ford and driver Matt Kenseth. Kenseth and Parrott started out strong, posting four top 10s in their first four races together, three of which were top 5s. But, despite Kenseth being locked in a battle for a Chase berth, Parrott was replaced by Jimmy Fennig in four months later.

Parrott then moved to RPM as crew chief for Elloitt Sadler and the No. 19 team. Over the final 18 races of the season, Sadler and Parrott posted a 25.3 average finish.

Meanwhile, RPM has downsized, as has been expected for quite some time. RPM shrunk from a four-car team to a two-car operation, as Richard Petty continues to seek backing to acquire majority interest in the team.

Next season, the team will field Fords for AJ Allmendinger and Ambrose. RPM is currently working on a deal in which Best Buy would sponsor the No. 43 for the majority of next season’s races. Ambrose will be sponsored by Stanley Tools.

The contraction meant several crew members were let go. With Kenny Francis moving to Red Bull Racing with Kasey Kahne , and Richard “Slugger” Labbe following Paul Menard to Richard Childress Racing next season, many of their crew members will follow them.

In a statement RPM said:

Richard Petty Motorsports has completed its restructuring process and is now in the process of moving forward. RPM will shift from running four cars to two in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and that is never an easy process for the people involved. Currently, we are concentrating on building two solid programs with AJ Allmendinger behind the wheel of the No. 43 entry and Marcos Ambrose in the No. 9 Ford. We are very fortunate to have an extremely loyal family of partners and are looking forward to the future.

Sadler and Parrott worked together at Yates Racing back in 2004.

Reiser, who is currently general manager of RFR, served as Kenseth’s crew chief from the time he ran in what is now the Nationwide Series in 1997 until late 2007 when Reiser was promoted to GM.

During their time together, Kenseth and Reiser teamed up for 15 wins and a Sprint Cup championship.

When Reiser moved up, Chip Bolin, who already had one win with Kenseth during Reiser’s suspension at the start of the 2007 season,  took over as crew chief of the No. 17. The two would not find Victory Lane at all during the 2008 season. Bolin was replaced by Drew Blickensderfer before the start of the 2009 season.

In 2009, Kenseth and Blickensderfer started the season of strong, winning the first two races. But the two would not get another win that season, and they would miss the Chase.

After the 2010 Daytona 500, Blickensderfer was replaced by Todd Parrott as crew chief for Kenseth. And while they never won a race together, they did post four top 10s in their first four races together, three of which were top 5s. Over the next 10 races, they posted three top 10s. Kenseth was seventh in points when Parrott was replaced by Jimmy Fennig.

At that time, Roush said of the Kenseth-Fennig pairing:

I am very pleased that we have been able to place these two together on the No. 17. These guys were both instrumental in our back-to-back Sprint Cup Championships in 2003 and 2004, with Matt driving us to our first Cup Championship and Jimmy of course being instrumental in the 2004 championship as the team’s crew chief. We would expect this pairing to yield strong results as both of these guys are extremely talented and among the best in the business at what they do. 

In the media center before the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Roush and Kenseth both indicated that Reiser had been approached to return to his role as crew chief. Kenseth said that he wanted to remain in the front office, and he couldn’t be on the pit box and in the front office.

But now, according to an anonymous source, Reiser wants to go back to being a crew chief.

The source said:

Robbie wants to come back 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.

Loomis is currently serving as an executive of racing operations with Richard Petty Motorsports.

Parrott took over for Drew Blickensderfer as crew chief for the No. 17 Sprint Cup Ford at Auto Club Speedway in February. Together, they started out strong. They posted four top 10s in their first four races together, three of which were top 5s. Over the next 10 races, they posted three top 10s. Kenseth is seventh in points. 

No reason was given for the switch. The timing is odd considering that Kenseth is in the midst of battling for a Chase berth and the team hasn’t been running horribly. Still, something on that team must be amiss if someone at RFR decided it would be best to split them up now.

Jimmy Fennig, who was running RFR’s research and development department, will act as temporary crew chief until a replacement can be found. Parrott will return to the R&D department.

Update: Based on comments from Jack Roush, contained in a press release, this move might have been to put Kenseth in a better position to win the Sprint Cup championship.

Roush said:

I am very pleased that we have been able to place these two together on the No. 17. These guys were both instrumental in our back-to-back Sprint Cup Championships in 2003 and 2004, with Matt driving us to our first Cup Championship and Jimmy of course being instrumental in the 2004 championship as the team’s crew chief. We would expect this pairing to yield strong results as both of these guys are extremely talented and among the best in the business at what they do.

With Fennig comes car chief Richie Davis, who will replace Charles “Cully” Barraclough. Parrott will become manager of the R&D department, and Barraclough will become car chief of the R&D department.

Blickensderfer became Kenseth’s crew chief after the 2008 season, and the team won the first two race of 2009. But, the team struggled for the rest of the season. Keseth posted an average finish of 15th in the remaining races and missed the Chase for the first time since its inception.

While the reasoning behind the move is fairly clear, the timing doesn’t seem to make sense. Why wait until after the first race of the season to make a change? And why make a change after the team posts a top 10 finish in that race?

Making such an abrupt (at least it appears abrupt) change could be disasterous. But, make the change to a veteran like Parrott could minimize the impact on continuity. Still, it seems pretty risky to make a change in the middle of a race-week. Unless of course, RFR started making the transition before publicly announcing it.

Blickensderfer will move to RFR’s research and development department. Have you ever noticed that when a crew chief is replaced, they usually go one of three places? They are either promoted to management, leave the company, or move to R&D.

To me, it seems that the R&D move is a demotion. Tony Eury Jr was kicked to R&D at Hendrick Motorsports after his was replaced by Lance McGrew as Dale Earnhardt Jr’s crew chief. But then again, what do I know.