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Kyle Busch gets new crew chief after winning just once in 2020

Kyle Busch won’t have Adam Stevens as his crew chief in 2021.

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday that Ben Beshore would take over as Busch’s crew chief next season while Stevens became the crew chief for Christopher Bell on the No. 20 car.

Stevens had been Busch’s crew chief since 2015. Busch won the Cup Series title that first season after he missed the first 11 races of the year after he was injured at Daytona and then won the title again in 2019 with Stevens as his crew chief. Twenty eight of Busch’s 57 Cup Series wins have come over the past five seasons, though just one of those wins came in 2020 as Busch was eliminated from the playoffs in the second round and ultimately finished eighth in the standings.

“We go through a process at the conclusion of every season that includes evaluating each of our teams,” Joe Gibbs said in a statement. “We believe our crew chief lineup for 2021 will best position each team and driver for success across both series.”

“We take a lot of pride in our depth of talent across our entire organization. All of our crew chiefs are proven winners. We are also looking forward to bringing the No. 54 Toyota Supra back to the track in 2021 with an exciting team of drivers.”

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Busch’s lone win came in the 34th race of the 36-race season. The win meant that he kept his streak alive of winning at least one race in each of his 16 full-time Cup Series seasons.

Beshore was Harrison Burton’s crew chief in the Xfinity Series in 2020. Burton won four races — including two of the final three — and finished seventh in the standings.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 10:  Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Chocolate Bar Toyota, talks with crew chief Adam Stevens during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 61st Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 10, 2019 in Daytona Beach, Florida.  (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
Kyle Busch and Adam Stevens won two championships together. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Christopher Bell moves to JGR for 2021

Chris Gayle was the crew chief of the No. 20 car in 2020 with Erik Jones behind the wheel. Bell, who drove for JGR in the Xfinity Series, spent his rookie Cup Series season in 2020 with Leavine Family Racing. But LFR announced it was shutting down at the end of the year. So Bell moves over to the No. 20 car and takes over for Jones who heads to Richard Petty Motorsports.

Gayle will become the crew chief for a fourth Xfinity Series entry for JGR. That car will be driven by the team’s Cup Series drivers.

Denny Hamlin will continue to have Chris Gabehart as his crew chief and Martin Truex Jr.’s crew chief will remain James Small. Hamlin and Gabehart have been together for two seasons while Truex and Small had their first year together in 2020 after Cole Pearn’s departure from NASCAR.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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