Jim Pohlman has been signed as Kyle Busch‘s next crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, Richard Childress Racing announced Oct. 16.
Pohlman will move to the team from JR Motorsports, where he’s been Justin Allgaier‘s crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2023.
With Allgaier, Pohlman won the 2024 championship and is in contention for the 2025 title as well.
“Everyone at Richard Childress Racing remains focused on improving performance and is committed to putting the right people in place, including on the No. 8 team,” Richard Childress, team chairman and CEO, said in a team release. “Jim Pohlman is a relentless competitor in the garage and fits in well with our mission and approach at RCR. He was well-respected during his previous tenure in Welcome [, N.C.], and we know that he will do a great job leading the No. 8 team and Kyle Busch.”
Pohlman had worked as RCR’s head of R&D prior to joining JRM. He replaces Randall Burnett, who departed as Busch’s crew chief earlier this season. Andy Street has been the No. 8’s interim crew chief.
In 2025, Busch has two top fives and nine top 10s in the Cup Series. Allgaier, second in points entering this weekend’s Talladega Superspeedway event, has three wins, 13 top fives and 18 top 10s.
Pohlman’s replacement at JRM has not been announced.
Kevin Rutherford is the executive editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2025 after being the managing editor since 2015, and serving on the editing staff since 2013.
At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
KFB isn’t in decline Randall Burnett still knows what he’s doing. The weak link is RCR Richard failed to keep up with the technology needed to develop this car. They are now 2nd tier in the Chevrolet pecking order on a level with Spire.
Wow, that’s a pretty good get from Jr. I hope it helps.
I hope so too. But how far behind is RCR, looks pretty far behind to me.
Baby Busch will be one year older on the downhill side next year no matter who the crew chief is. The effect of a crew chief change has been evident for years regardless of the driver.
If Kyle had been still at Gibbs he wouldn’t look so bad. RCR sucks and it’s evident. If Hamlin can do it I know Kyle still can.