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Blake Harris, Alex Bowman‘s crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports, will move to Trackhouse Racing in 2027 to be Shane van Gisbergen‘s crew chief, RACER’s Kelly Crandall reported, citing multiple people familiar with the move.
Trackhouse has not formally announced the change.
https://x.com/KellyCrandall/status/2118852956632076346
The ‘big team changes’
Van Gisbergen said after Martinsville that Trackhouse has “some big team changes coming,” and team owner Justin Marks said this week that the changes are on the competition side and that “amazing talent” is coming to the team, as Pit This Time reported.
Stephen Doran has been van Gisbergen’s crew chief for the past two seasons. RACER reported that the two have combined for seven wins.
Harris’ résumé
Harris has been Bowman’s crew chief on the No. 48 for four seasons. The two won together at the Chicago Street Course in 2024, and Bowman finished ninth in points that year. Before Hendrick, Harris was Michael McDowell’s crew chief at Front Row Motorsports in 2022. He also worked at Furniture Row Racing, including on Martin Truex Jr.’s 2017 championship team, and at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Bowman has struggled this season. He has no wins and sits 26th in the standings.
Who replaces Harris?
RACER reported that Adam Wall, Corey Day’s crew chief on Hendrick’s No. 17 O’Reilly Series team, is among those being discussed for the No. 48. Hendrick has not named a replacement. Bowman will drive the No. 48 in 2027 before Connor Zilisch takes over in 2028.
Zilisch said he plans to keep working with crew chief Randall Burnett at Trackhouse next season.
Van Gisbergen’s season
Van Gisbergen has two wins this season, most recently at Sonoma in June, and finished fifth at Martinsville last week. He is not in the Chase.
The Cup Series finale is today at 3 p.m. ET on NBC from Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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