Richard Childress Racing Makes Sweeping Changes to No. 8 Pit Crew Ahead of Phoenix

Heading into this weekend's NASCAR Cup Series Shiners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway, Richard Childress Racing has decided to shake things up quite a bit as there will be three new crew members on Kyle Busch's over-the-wall crew this weekend.

According to the NASCAR Team Roster portal, front changer Michael Russell has been replaced by Shiloh Windsor for this weekend's race in Avondale, AZ.

Additionally, rear changer Chris Jackson has also been swapped out with Michael Johnson, and Doug Warrick has been named the replacement for jackman Garrett Crall.

The elevation of Warrick to jackman marks the second time that the No. 8 team has made a change at the jackman position this season as Crall was tapped to replace original jackman Josh Sobecki following the season-opening Daytona 500.

Fueler Justin White and tire carrier Lamar Neal will continue in their roles for this weekend's race and are the two remaining crew members from the original 2024 No. 8 RCR crew roster.

The lack of performance for the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing pit crew in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was well documented by Bozi Tatarevic in this week's edition of 4 Tires and Fuel. Tatarevic says that the No. 8 RCR team ranked in the bottom four of average pit stop speed in the event, and it is the continuation of a horrible three-race start to the season for the pit crew.

Busch and the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 have been among the fastest cars in the NASCAR Cup Series garage evidenced by the laps that Busch has led in all three events this season. However, miscues on pit road have stacked up quickly, and in the case of Daytona and Las Vegas, the pit crew had become a real liability for the No. 8 team.

While Busch made a miscue on the final green flag stop of the day at Las Vegas as he slid through his pit stall, the crew pitted the car without having Busch back the car up, which led to a back-breaking penalty.

As a result, Busch finished 26th. It was a frustrating finish as Busch led 18 laps in the opening Stage of the race, and looked to once again be a contender.

However, sluggish pit stops took Busch out of contention for the lead for the remainder of the day, and the penalty at the end of the race foiled any hope of a good finish.

Las Vegas didn't feel like an isolated set of circumstances as the No. 8 pit crew found trouble in the season-opening Daytona 500 as well. On a pit stop under caution, he left front wheel was left loose on a pit stop.

The tire changer knew it, but the jackman didn't realize it before letting the jack down, and sending Busch on his way. Busch immediately went into survival mode as he limped the car back around, hoping that the left front wheel wouldn't fly off of the car.

Somehow, it didn't. But had that been an error under a green flag pit stop, any hope of a solid finish at Daytona would have been completely ruined.

Richard Childress Racing will hope that with the new changes, the No. 8 pit crew can match the speed of the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro on track.

Photo Credit: Jim Fluharty/HHP for Chevy Racing