CHICO, Calif. — The crew chief for Andy Forsberg’s No. 92 sprint car is serious about his assignment. Brian Cannon pays attention to the entire team in his crew chief status, giving every detail attention for the upcoming races.
He is aiming for his 100th win this year as a crew chief and with Forsberg driving, there is a good possibility that goal will be reached.
Cannon has lived most of his years in Chico, the home of the well-known Silver Dollar Speedway, a track that is focused on sprint car racing. He was born into racing as everyone in his extended family was involved in stock car racing.
Some racing in outlaw karts was Cannon’s experience as he raced against drivers who are now “big time drivers.” He eventually took a liking to sprint cars and after high school began working with drivers that eventually led to the crew chief title.
But it was not an easy road as Cannon had a lot to learn.
His first experience was driver Paul Purcell who was an underfunded team so Cannon got some sponsorship for him. Next was Doug Lipincott, which was his first crew chief job. Cannon lived in the trailer and truck in Nevada and admits he had no idea what he was doing as a crew chief at age 20.
Other drivers for whom Cannon worked on his path to becoming a crew chief include Johnny Gray, Jonathan Allard and Steven Allard. During this time, he met Chuck Cypert who was the crew chief for Jonathan Allard and was the most influential mentor of his racing career.
Cannon admitted, “It took 10 years to get the maturity needed to be a successful crew chief. A good portion of my career had just been being young, thinking I knew it all, but finally I matured and have had most of my success since age 30.”
Now Cannon is the crew chief for the Pacific Highway Rentals sprint car with Forsberg at the wheel. Nine more wins will put him at 100 as a crew chief and it will happen in time.
As a crew chief, Cannon does many things for the team. Web site design, press releases and marketing are examples of his efforts. He figures 80 percent of his time is getting ready for an upcoming race.
“There’s not one stone that isn’t turned over in preparation for next week’s event,” noted Cannon. “My maintenance sheet has probably 100 things that must be done before the next race.”
Forsberg is appreciative of having Cannon as the team crew chief.
Forsberg said, “Love having someone at the track to make the decisions which were difficult for me as I’d think I was wrong. I’ve been my best when someone was taking care of things. Brian is vested in the team, not in it for the money but for the love of the sport.”
