Familiar pairings comprise JR Motorsports’ 2023 lineup
JR Motorsports announced their driver-crew chief pairings for the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
- Sam Mayer and crew chief Mardy Lindley, No. 1 team
- Justin Allgaier and Jim Pohlman, No. 7 team
- Josh Berry and Taylor Moyer, No. 8 team
- Brandon Jones and Jason Burdett, No. 9 team
Perhaps the biggest change is Jason Burdett splitting with Justin Allgaier. In seven Xfinity seasons together, Burdett and Allgaier earned 18 wins and five Championship 4 appearances.
Burdett will welcome Brandon Jones to JRM as the No. 9 team’s third crew chief in the last three years.
Burdett replaces Luke Lambert, who took over for David Elenz in 2022. Elenz and Lambert will work with Petty-GMS drivers Erik Jones and Noah Gragson during the 2023 Cup season.
Allgaier will reunite with Jim Pohlman, who oversaw his 2008 ARCA Menards Series championship run.
Pohlman has 24 NASCAR starts as a crew chief. Last year, with Richard Childress Racing, he was crew chief in two Cup races and his only four Xfinity races.
Sam Mayer will get to reunite with Mardy Lindley, who led him to two championships and 13 wins in 2019 and 2020.
In 2019, the duo claimed four NASCAR K&N Pro Series East wins and the championship. Then in 2020, they won nine ARCA Menards East and ARCA Menards Series races and the East championship.
In 2022, Lindley won twice with Corey Heim and once with Kyle Busch while serving as crew chief for Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 51 Truck team.
Taylor Moyer will work with Josh Berry and fill the vacancy left by Mike Bumgarner, who will now be JRM’s competition director.
Moyer will be rejoining the No. 8 team he was crew chief for from 2019-21. His lone win with the team was Berry’s first win, at Martinsville in April 2021.
Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry made the Championship Four and won 14 races for JRM in 2022. However, they finished 2-3-4 to JGR driver Ty Gibbs while Sam Mayer finished 7th in points with no wins.
“As successful as 2022 was for JR Motorsports, we’re always asking ourselves ‘how can we be better?'” said Mike Bumgarner, JRM’s director of competition. “While we performed at a very high level this season, a tweak here or there can help push us even further. We were fortunate to bring in Jim and Mardy. Both have past success with their drivers and we expect that will aid in making a smooth transition.”
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com