STATESVILLE, N.C. – GMS Racing has announced its crew chief lineup for the upcoming NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series seasons.
Familiar pairings and new partnerships highlight the lineup. Most notably, GMS Racing now has all four 2020 Truck Series Championship 4 crew chiefs on its roster with the addition of Jeff Hensley while Chad Norris moves to competition director for the 2021 season.
Jeff Stankiewicz returns for his second full-time season with Sheldon Creed. The 2020 championship-winning crew chief reunited with Creed mid-season in 2019 after they won the 2018 ARCA Menards Series championship together. Stankiewicz has seven Truck Series wins as a crew chief including five in 2020 en route to the series championship.
Kevin Manion returns for Zane Smith’s sophomore season in the Truck Series as the leader of the No. 21 team. The pair racked up two wins and 13 top-10 finishes in 2020 en route to a second-place finish in the championship standings. Manion has six Truck Series wins, 17 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins and five NASCAR Cup Series wins in 19 years as a crew chief in the sport.
Hensley rejoins the organization as the crew chief for Chase Purdy and the No. 23 team. Hensley has 18 Truck Series wins in 395 races atop the pit box through 17 seasons in the series. Hensley was previously with GMS in 2016 and served as crew chief for Spencer Gallagher.
Chad Walter shifts to the No. 24 Silverado to crew chief for Raphael Lessard. Walter has five wins in 208 NXS starts as crew chief and led Tyler Ankrum’s team to a playoff berth in 2020 in his first season as a Truck Series crew chief.
Charles Denike moves to captain the No. 26 crew for Tyler Ankrum. 2020 marked Denike’s first full-time season as crew chief and produced two memorable wins, with Chase Elliott at Charlotte in May 2020 as well as Sam Mayer’s commanding win of Bristol in September.
Chad Bryant joins GMS as crew chief for the No. 21 ARCA entry piloted by Jack Wood. Bryant has been a fixture in the ARCA Menards Series for the last eight years and has two wins in 41 starts as crew chief in that time. He previously was the owner of Chad Bryant Racing.
Norris will move to the role of Competition Director. Norris has one Truck Series win at Kansas in October of 2020 and four Xfinity Series wins and more than 15 years of experience in the sport.
“We are excited to have our crew chiefs return for the 2021 season with the addition of crew chief, Jeff Hensley,” said Mike Beam, president of GMS Racing. “Hensley returning to GMS will bring more veteran knowledge to our powerhouse crew chief line up. Chad Norris fulfilling the Competition Director role will be a great addition to our management team. Norris will work along-side Technical Director, Tom Ackerman, to elevate our truck program and to make it more competitive. We are also happy to welcome Chad Bryant to our ARCA program. Bryant brings a wealth of knowledge and also has a passion to develop young talent that will make our Drivers Edge Program thrive. I have great faith in each one of these individuals and I can’t wait to see what the 2021 season has in store.”