Truex opened his 18th full season with an exhibition victory in the Busch Light Clash in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in early February. But Truex slogged through 2022, easily his worst season since before Pearn came onboard and went winless with just four top-five finishes. Small and Truex won just one race in 2020 before winning four in 2021. Small, a native of Melbourne, Australia, and a Pearn disciple, is a first-time Cup crew chief without a track record that made him at times an easy target when Truex lashes out. He almost never made mistakes, built the best cars and rescued Truex from career oblivion. Pearn had no ego, wore a T-shirt on the pit box and had a similar low-key style as Truex. From 2016 to their final year together in 2019, the duo won 23 races, best among all driver-crew chief combos over that time.Īfter all that success, almost any new crew chief would have been a tough fit for Truex. Pearn led Truex to the title race in four of their five years together, including their last three seasons together. Truex blossomed from journeyman driver into NASCAR superstar under the guidance of former crew chief Cole Pearn, who were first paired at now-defunct Furniture Row Racing and made the jump together to JGR in 2019.
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