Rowan Pennink with car owner Kelly Iverson after a victory last year at Stafford Motor Speedway (Photo: DMS MotorSports Photography)
It will be a season of change for Rowan Pennink with his various Modified rides locally.
In December it was announced that Pennink would join Boehler Racing Enterprises to drive the legendary Ole Blue ride for 2016 on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
Earlier this month Pennink announced he’ll be joining the ranks of the SK Modified division full-time in 2016 at Thompson Speedway.
And on Monday it was confirmed that Pennink will be bringing on a new crew chief for his defense of the 2015 SK Modified championship at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Kevin Crowley will take over as crew chief on Pennink’s SK Modified ride at Stafford Speedway, which is owned by Kelly Iverson and Bob Hitchcock.
Crowley is a long Whelen Modified Tour crew chief and the brother of Brian Crowley, Pennink’s longtime spotter and also a crew member with the Iverson/Hitchcock team.
Crowley replaces Jimmy Fuller, who had been with the Iverson/Hitchcock operation for 10 years. Fuller has taken a fulltime position with LFR Racing, which is owned by his nephew Rob Fuller.
“Jimmy got an opportunity from his nephew and we wish him the best of luck,” Iverson said. “To be with Jimmy for 10 years, its going to be interesting to change, but I think it’s going to be good. We’re a family team and to add a family guy is just a huge plus to us. We have a family team and we want to keep it a family. Kevin is up to the challenge. He has a good reputation.”
Said Kevin Crowley: “My brother dragged me to a couple [SK Modified] races last year and I’d say it’s some of the best racing in the country. To get to work with Bob and Kelly and Rowan and my brother again, it’s all about family. It’s nice to be back with a family team. It will be hard to top what they did last year, but I think we can.”
Pennink had six victories and 17 top-five finishes in 22 starts last year at Stafford to capture his first track championship at the historic half-mile.
“We obviously had a really good season last year and the past couple years,” Pennink said. “Since I raced with the team with Jimmy as a crew chief he’s done a great job for us. He got an opportunity to go in a different direction and that was his decision to do that. Changes happen over the course of a year and we made the decision to go with Kevin as the crew chief and I think he’s going to do a good job and I’m excited for new stuff and excited to see if we can be even better than we were last year.”
Kevin Crowley said he’s looking forward to competition level in the SK Modified division at Stafford.
“With that division you’ve got to be on your toes,” Kevin Crowley said. “Everything has to be perfect to run up front there. You see how many good cars there are up at Stafford. I see it as better racing [than the Whelen Modified Tour]. It’s not like I’m dropping down. I’m actually getting into something with more competition. Instead of having two or three guys on the Tour with money that can out-buy you, at Stafford you have a bunch of people that can run up front. The competition level is high there. It will be fun. I think it will be a great time and a great year.”
This should be great!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best of luck to Kevin,but he’s going to have his hands full trying to top Jimmys record threw the years I think