Dave Elenz confirmed to crew chief for Erik Jones and Richard Petty Motorsports in 2022

NASCAR on NBC/NBCUniversal

    It was announced this afternoon (11/10/21) that Dave Elenz, who most recently worked as a crew chief for Noah Gragson's No. 9 team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, will join forces with Erik Jones and Richard Petty Motorsports' No. 43 team to crew chief for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. Elenz has worked the JR Motorsports for several seasons prior to this decision.

Last week when the news broke that Elenz would not return to JR Motorsports in 2022, his landing pace became widely rumored. At the time, Noah Gragson let the 'cat out of the bag' that Elenz would find new employment at the Cup Series level. Following the release of those details one of the rumors that arose (for Elenz) was that the would work for the Richard Petty Motorsports's No. 43 team in the NASCAR Cup Series. That turned out to be true.

Dave Elenz is not just any old crew chief in the NASCAR garage. Elenz sits atop the pit-box with the honors of leading the JR Motorsports No. 9 team to back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity Series Championships in 2017 (with William Byron) and in 2018 (with Tyler Reddick). Aside those major victories, the 40 year old crew chief has racked up 15 race-wins, 77 top-5 finishes, and 149 top-10 finishes, numbers which are in the right ballpark for a high performance team like JR Motorsports.

Those numbers are also appealing to smaller NASCAR Cup Series organizations, such as Richard Petty Motorsports. In comparison to the team's most recent crew chief, Jerry Baxter, Elenz has a more saturated portfolio of results, although Baxter has a much more years of experience within NASCAR competition.

Baxter is not a bad crew chief, but the main goal of him joining Richard Petty Motorsports was to assist Darrel (Bubba) Wallace Jr. towards scoring better results. Wallace had previously worked with Baxter in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series during the 2013 and 2014 seasons where the pairing would score five victories together. Unfortunately after only one season at the Cup Series level, Bubba Wallace would depart to join the newly founded 23XI Racing owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. Jerry Baxter would remain at Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2021 season.

Now the fact that Jerry Baxter is (presumably) leaving Richard Petty Motorsports puts question into who will crew chief for Bubba Wallace in 2022. For the first half of the 2021 season, Mike Wheeler had the honor of crew chief-ing the No. 23 team, but in a turn of events Wheeler would take a higher role within the organization, allowing Bootie Barker III to rally the No. 23 team. That instability is certainly non-beneficial for any driver. Factor in the fact that Kurt Busch will join the organization's brand new No. 45 team in 2022 to race full-time and will realize that 23XI Racing will need another crew chief in only a few months.

During the Championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway, Bubba Wallace told FOX Sports' Bob Pockrass:

Asked Bubba Wallace if he expected Bootie Barker to be his crew chief next year and he said "stop fishing, you'll get your answer soon." ... Erik Jones also is among those who potentially could have a new crew chief next year but he indicated tbd/tba.

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) November 7, 2021

Wallace's respponse to the question concerning his furutre crew chief indicates that there will be further details released in the upcoming future, therefore expect to hear about 23XI Racing's new crew chief sometime in November or December of 2021, and understand that it quite possibly could be Jerry Baxter.

This news certainly is not bad for Erik Jones either. The 25 year old from Byron Michigan is a proven winner at all three national levels (Cup, Xfintiy and Truck Series), and undoubtedly has the talent underneath his belt to go out an win week to week. A good organization consists of more than one talented individual. David Elenz will most definitely fit the bill to bring talent to Richard Petty Motorsports.