.jpg) Blickensderfer atDarlington Raceway in 2019 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Philip Andrew Blickensderfer |
Nickname | Blick |
| Born | (1976-11-12)November 12, 1976 (age 49) Mount Zion, Illinois, U.S. |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | NASCAR |
| Team | 4.Front Row Motorsports |
Philip Andrew "Blick" Blickensderfer (born November 12, 1976) is an AmericanNASCAR crew chief who is currently employed atFront Row Motorsports as the crew chief for the No. 4Ford Mustang driven byNoah Gragson. He is a two-timeDaytona 500-winning crew chief, having won it withFront Row Motorsports andMichael McDowell in2021 as well as withRoush Fenway Racing andMatt Kenseth in2009.
Blickensderfer became interested in racing from his uncle and grandfather.[1] Blickensderfer began going to localdrag strips to help drivers prepare their cars.[1] He purchased amodified to race, but soon quit racing the car.[1] "I really didn't want to be in the car," Blickensderfer said. "I think everybody has aspirations when they get in the sport of being a race car driver. I wanted to be a crew chief, make the calls, prepare the cars."[1]
After moving to North Carolina, Blickensderfer started as the rear tire change pit crew member and mechanic forDale Earnhardt, Inc.'s No. 1 car.[1] He later joinedBill Davis Racing before joiningRoush Racing in 2003 as crew member on the No. 60 car in theBusch Series and laterMark Martin's No. 6 Cup car.[1] In 2007 he became the crew chief for the No. 17 Busch Series car and the combination had three wins during their Busch Series days.[2] During the middle of the 2008 season, he becameCarl Edwards' crew chief in the Nationwide Series,[1] the new name for the former Busch Series. Edwards gave Blickenderfer complete control of the car adjustments.[1] "He gave me free rein to do whatever I want,: Blickensderfer said. "When we started having some success, the ball of momentum kept getting bigger and bigger and everybody bought into the system."[1]
Blickensderfer took over crew chief duties for the No. 17 car in Sprint Cup, driven by Matt Kenseth, in December 2008 afterChip Bolin returned to be the team engineer.[1][2] He won in his first race as a Sprint Cup crew chief in the2009 Daytona 500 on February 15, 2009.[3] He followed up with his second win atCalifornia Speedway in the following week which earned him the nickname "Mr. Perfect".[1] The back to back wins to start the season made Kenseth the fifth driver to start a NASCAR season with two wins, the others beingMarvin Panch (1957),Bob Welborn (1959),David Pearson (1976), andJeff Gordon (1997).[4]
He started out the 2010 NASCAR season as Kenseth's crew chief for theDaytona 500, but was reassigned to Roush Fenway's research and development team after the race.[5] He was replaced byTodd Parrott, who had beenDale Jarrett's championship-winning crew chief in 1999.[2] He spent most of the 2010 season as crew chief for Carl Edward’s Nationwide Series No. 60 team. However he replaced Donnie Wingo as crew chief for the No. 6 Ford Fusion in September 2010 and into the 2011 season.[6] He almost won the Daytona 500 again as a crew chief withDavid Ragan and went on to win with Ragan at the 2011 Coke Zero 400, collecting his third win as a Sprint Cup Series crew chief.
Blickensderfer moved toRichard Childress Racing in 2012 to be the crew chief forJeff Burton. However, after the organization struggled as a whole, he resigned from the position after theTUMS Fast Relief 500, heading toRichard Petty Motorsports to crew chief forMarcos Ambrose for the remainder of the season as well as 2013. Blickensderfer was replaced byShane Wilson as Burton's crew chief.[7]
Blickensderfer was replaced byKevin Manion as crew chief of the No. 9 on May 5, 2015.[8] He was a crew chief forJeb Burton in theXfinity Series beforeRichard Petty Motorsports ceased its Xfinity operations in the middle of the 2016 season.
Blickensderfer recently served as the crew chief forMichael McDowell in the Cup Series. On February 14, 2021, Blickensderfer won his second Daytona 500 as crew chief for Michael McDowell.
On December 17, 2021, FRM announced that Blickensderfer had left the team.[9]
On January 4, 2022, Blickensderfer was introduced as the crew chief for theStewart–Haas Racing No. 10 Ford driven byAric Almirola.[10] On December 13, it was announced that Blickensderfer will continue serving as the crew chief of the No. 10 in 2024, withNoah Gragson replacing Almirola, who departed for a part-time ride driving the No. 20 forJoe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series.[11]
On December 16, 2024, it was announced that Blickenderfer will return to FRM as the crew chief of the No. 4 car, driven by Gragson.[12][13]
Blickensderfer was born inMount Zion, Illinois, the son of a high school basketball coach and neighbor of former Mt. Zion Classmate Justin Denton.[1] He was a wrestler in high school and attended theUniversity of Indiana as a walk on.[1] He had two surgeries during his first year of college and decided to change toDivision III collegeMillikin University, where he became a highly ranked wrestler in the lowest division of college sports.[1] On December 31, 2018, he married Lori Michaels, the former Chief Digital Officer of The Economist Group. He is nicknamed "Blick", because he says, "people just call me Blick, it's just a lot easier."[1]