Crew Chief Feature: Matt McCall Is Leading the No. 1 Team

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By Joseph Wolkin

Sitting atop the pit box for Jamie McMurray’s No. 1 team, Matt McCall is adjusting quite well to his new role. The former Robert Yates Racing developmental driver is now a Sprint Cup Series crew chief.

Entering his second season with McMurray, McCall is looking to lead the team into the Chase for the second consecutive year.

You guys got into the Chase last year, but what is going to be the difference this year?

“As an organization, we have put in a pretty big effort to make some gains in areas that we thought we were off at last year. Hopefully, that leads to better results. You work in directions that you think are correct and you don’t really know if it’ll work until you unload.”

The organization has an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. How much information do you receive from them?

“That is just engines, transmissions and gears. As far as any type of technical stuff, that is not set up through them.”

What is the difference with the digital dash this year?

“We got to work with it for four to five tests last year. It just looks cooler to us. There is a little bit more information that you can get once you download it, but it is not a huge change as long as nothing goes wrong.”