Mike Kelley will replace Brian Pattie as Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2023, JTG Daugherty Racing announced Wednesday (Nov. 9).
Pattie is joining Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the No. 51.
It’s a reunion of sorts for Kelley and Stenhouse, as Kelley served as Stenhouse’s crew chief in Cup in all but one race in 2014. He also filled in for one event in 2016.
Additionally, Kelley was on top of the box for both of Stenhouse’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championships in 2011 and 2012; the pair earned eight total wins in those two years.
“It’s been a little bit, but those championships with Ricky mean the world to me,” Kelley said in a team release. “It proves that a team can dream, work hard, and execute to reach the top. When you believe, it’s amazing what you can accomplish.”
Across Kelley’s Xfinity crew chief career, his drivers have won 12 total races and earned 65 top fives and 141 top 10s, dating back to 2006 with Todd Kluever.
Meanwhile, in Cup, Stenhouse earned one top five and five top 10s with Kelley as crew chief, while Matt Tifft tagged on another top 10 for Kelley in 2019.
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.