_(cropped).jpg) Pattie atMichigan International Speedway in 2011 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Paul Brian Pattie (1975-04-09)April 9, 1975 (age 50) Zephyrhills, Florida, U.S.[1] |
| Occupation | Crew chief |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series |
| Team | 7.Spire Motorsports |
Paul Brian Pattie (born April 9, 1975) is an Americanauto racing crew chief who works forSpire Motorsports as the crew chief for their No. 7Chevrolet Silverado in theNASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driven by various drivers. He has achieved six wins in theNASCAR Cup Series, one with Montoya (in 2010), three with Bowyer (all in 2012), and two with Stenhouse (both in 2017). He has 21 wins overall as a crew chief.
Throughout his career, he has also crew chiefed for driversJoe Nemechek,Ron Fellows,Dale Earnhardt Jr.,Jerry Nadeau,Tim Fedewa,David Reutimann,Blake Feese,Jamie McMurray,Casey Mears,Reed Sorenson,David Stremme,Kevin Hamlin,Scott Pruett,Michael Valiante,A. J. Allmendinger,Dario Franchitti,Bryan Clauson,Kyle Krisiloff,Scott Lagasse Jr.,Juan Pablo Montoya,Clint Bowyer,David Ragan,Greg Biffle andKyle Busch.
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In 1994, Pattie began his career as the fabricator for theNEMCO Motorsports team, owned by driverJoe Nemechek in what is now theNASCAR Xfinity Series.[2] In 1996, he started working forHendrick Motorsports at the1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series.[2] He returned to Nemechek in 1997 as the crew chief at the Nationwide Series.[2] Between 1997 and 2003, Pattie only attended a few Cup Series races per year, mostly on road course races, crew chiefing for the No. 87 team, driven byRon Fellows. Fellows came close to several wins with Pattie as crew chief, finishing 2nd at Watkins Glen in 1999 and leading the most laps at Sonoma in 2001.
In 2003, Pattie started working as the team manager for NEMCO as well as the crew chief for their No. 7 (Randy LaJoie) and 87 (Joe Nemechek) cars.[2] In 2004,Chip Ganassi Racing recruited Pattie as the crew chief for the No. 41 car (Reed Sorenson) in the Nationwide Series.[2] In 2007, he was the crew chief forDario Franchitti[1][3] andScott Pruett.[4][5] In May 2008, he started working asJuan Pablo Montoya's Cup Series crew chief.[6][7] The duo remained together until midway through the 2011 season, where he was replaced by Jim Pohlman. Pattie and Montoya qualified for the Chase in 2009 despite going winless. In 2010, they won the race atWatkins Glen, which was Montoya's second Cup win and Pattie's first win in the Cup Series as a crew chief.
In December 2011, Pattie was named as the crew chief forClint Bowyer atMichael Waltrip Racing, which was expanding to three cars in 2012 with Bowyer's No. 15 team.[8] It was a great year for MWR and Bowyer, who won three races and finished second in points. However, during the 2012 AvdoCare 500 at Phoenix while being interviewed by ESPN'sJamie Little, Pattie used swear words and got fined US$35,000 which led to ESPN having to apologize to viewers.[citation needed] They weren't as successful the next three years, and with Bowyer winless since his three-win season in 2012, the team decided before the race atMichigan in June 2015, to move Pattie to MWR's No. 55 car, driven byDavid Ragan, in a flip-flop with Ragan's crew chiefBilly Scott, who became Bowyer's crew chief.[9]
When MWR shut down following the 2015 season, Pattie moved toRoush Fenway Racing as crew chief for the No. 16 team driven byGreg Biffle. Due to lack of sponsorship, Roush shut down the No. 16 car after 2016, and Pattie was moved to the team's No. 17 car driven byRicky Stenhouse Jr. In his first year working with Stenhouse, they earned two wins atTalladega in May and Daytona in July, which qualified the team for the playoffs. They remained together for the next three years. After the 2019 season, Stenhouse was released from Roush in favor ofChris Buescher. However, Pattie and Buescher would not work together as the team later confirmed that he would not be back as the crew chief for the No. 17 team in 2020.[10] Pattie eventually followed Stenhouse toJTG Daugherty Racing.[11]
Prior to the2020 Auto Club 400 atFontana, the No. 47 team was docked 10 owner and driver points and Pattie was suspended for the race after the car was discovered to have an illegal modification during pre-race inspection.[12]
On November 9, 2022, it was announced that Pattie would leave JTG Daugherty and would become the new crew chief for theKyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 truck in 2023.[13]
Pattie was born on April 9, 1975, to Paul Pattie (1946–2007) and Thelma "Hege" Pattie inZephyrhills, Florida. He attended and graduated fromZephyrhills High School in 1993.[14] He is a long-time friend of former NASCAR driverDavid Reutimann, and they went to high school together.[15]
Pattie and his wife have four children, three daughters whose names are Alexis, Aubree, and Aleesia, and a son named Brennan.[citation needed]