Published: Feb. 25, 2017
Allenton native Emmer changes teams in pursuit of championship
ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043
Greg Emmer knows most of his career is over. That’s why he made a change this offseason.
After more than a decade with NASCAR’s Roush Fenway Racing program,
the Allenton native and Slinger High School graduate moved to Furniture
Row Racing and the No. 78 team, led by driver Martin Truex Jr., in the
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
“I knew I wanted a change in my career,” Emmer said. “I was basically
faced with a couple options. One was retirement from the sport. The only
way I was going to return was to be on a championship-caliber team. I
haven’t been on one since 2014.”
He decided to make one last push toward something he hasn’t achieved: a championship.
The NASCAR season begins Sunday with the Daytona 500.
This season, Emmer is one of two car chiefs for Truex’s car, which is a change of pace, too.
“There’s less stress on myself,” Emmer said. “It’s an interesting method because everybody else does it with one person.”
The car chief is like the top assistant coach for a race team. The crew chief is the head coach.
The crew chief is responsible for the pit crew, the driver and what
changes he wants to make to a car. The car chief makes those changes
happen.
Emmer will turn 32 on Aug. 12. He resigned from Roush Fenway on Nov. 30.
The organization also relieved fellow Allenton native and former
Slinger Superspeedway track champion Robbie Reiser from his duties as
the company’s general manager eight days earlier.
“They were always amazing to me,” Emmer said. “I truly enjoyed working
there. I enjoyed working with the people I was working with.”
Roush Fenway Racing hasn’t won a Cup race since Carl Edwards in 2014.
“I want to win now,” Emmer said. “It was a big decision to step away from a company that was so great to me.”
Representatives from the 78 team were among the first to express
interest in bringing Emmer to Furniture Row Racing. Initially, he said
no. One of those reasons was the lifestyle change — Furniture Row Racing
is based in Colorado, and Emmer lived in North Carolina.
“Moving 2,000 miles across the country was a daunting task at the initial thought of it,” Emmer said.
Other teams showed interest, too.
He signed the contract with Furniture Row Racing on Dec. 23. He moved to Denver a few weeks later.
“There’s a lot of talent here in Colorado, more than I ever thought,” Emmer said. “It was all very impressive.”
Truex has qualified for the Chase, NASCAR’s playoff system, in each of
the last two seasons. He finished in the top four in 2015 and 11th last
season after winning a career-high four races.
Truex was runnerup at the 2016 Daytona 500 by 0.01 seconds to Denny Hamlin.
Truex was fifth quickest in last Sunday’s Daytona 500 qualifying and
is expected to be a contender during the 59th running of the race.
Furniture Row Racing, after struggling to make it full-time, has qualified for the Chase in three of the last four seasons.
Emmer started in NASCAR as a mechanic on David Ragan’s car 13 years
ago. He was on that team until 2011. Since then, he’s held several roles
with different drivers.
“I’ve been in the position before knowing that you have an
opportunity you can win at every single track you go to,” Emmer said.
“I’ve been in those shoes before, but it’s been a while.
“I want to have a chance to go win a championship.”
No comments:
Post a Comment