Todd Parrott
Todd Parrott (born February 9, 1964) is an American stock car racing crew chief. He currently works for B. J. McLeod Motorsports as the crew chief for their No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series. He is most well-known for his long tenure at Robert Yates Racing as Dale Jarrett's crew chief on the No. 88 Ford. The duo won 29 races together as well as the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship.
 Parrott in 1997 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  American |
| Born | February 9, 1964 Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Spouse(s) | Billie Kiser-Parrott |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | NASCAR Cup Series |
| Team | No. 78 B. J. McLeod Motorsports |
Parrott also worked with Ernie Irvan, Elliott Sadler, and David Gilliland while at Yates. Over his career, Parrott has also worked for Petty Enterprises, Hall of Fame Racing (which was in a partnership with Yates), Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports (the successor team to Petty Enterprises), Tommy Baldwin Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Circle Sport, Leavine Family Racing, and Premium Motorsports. Parrott's other two wins as a crew chief came with Marcos Ambrose at RPM.
As of May 2020, he is also tied for being the second most-winning active crew chief in the Cup Series with 31 career wins, which puts him behind Chad Knaus (who has 81 wins) and tied with Paul Wolfe.
Career
1995–2005: Robert Yates Racing
Parrott's first crew chief position was working with Ernie Irvan in 1995 at Yates Racing on the new #88 Ford for two races. When the No. 88 went full time in 1996, Parrott became the crew chief for Dale Jarrett, winning the 1999 Cup Series championship. After 2002, Parrott worked for periods with several Yates drivers including Jarrett, Elliott Sadler, Travis Kvapil, and David Gilliland.
2006: Petty Enterprises
In 2006, Parrott left RYR to crew chief the famous No. 43 Petty Enterprises Dodge, driven by Bobby Labonte, but returning to Yates during the season to work with rookie David Gilliland, who had just replaced Sadler in the No. 38 car.
2006–2009: Second stint at Yates (including Hall of Fame Racing)
After Parrott returned to RYR, he and Gilliland won the pole for the Talladega race. The pair remained together for the entire 2007 season. However, for 2008, Parrott was moved to the other Yates car, the No. 28 (formerly No. 88), with Travis Kvapil.[1] For 2009, Parrott was moved Hall of Fame Racing, a satellite team to Yates Racing which switched from Toyota to Ford that year after previously having an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. HOF would begin operating out the Yates shop in 2009. The driver was Bobby Labonte, who Parrott reunited with after previously working with him in 2006, but once again, the duo failed to make it through a full season, and Parrott was replaced on the No. 96 car by Ben Leslie during the season. Both Hall of Fame Racing and Yates Racing would close down after the 2009 season due to lack of sponsorship, with Yates equipment and owner points being inherited by Front Row Motorsports.
2010–2013: Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports
Parrott remained in the Ford family in 2010, initially working the speedway program in the Research and Development department of Roush Fenway Racing but quickly became Matt Kenseth's crew chief on the No. 17 after the 2010 Daytona 500, replacing Drew Blickensderfer, who was reassigned to Carl Edwards' No. 60 car in the Nationwide Series.[2] Midway through the season, however, Parrott was released, and he joined Richard Petty Motorsports (which had an alliance with Roush at the time) starting at Chicagoland Speedway as crew chief for Elliott Sadler's No. 19. After RPM reduced from four cars to two for 2011, he moved to the No. 9 team and driver Marcos Ambrose. Two-thirds through the 2012 season, RPM's teams switched crew chiefs with Parrott going to the No. 43 of Aric Almirola,[3] where he remained for 2013.
On October 17, 2013, it was announced that Parrott had been indefinitely suspended due to failing to meet NASCAR's substance abuse policy.[4] He was released by Richard Petty Motorsports on October 21.[5]
2014–2017: Tommy Baldwin Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Circle Sport, Leavine Family Racing
On February 3, 2014, Parrott was named the crew chief of the No. 36 of Tommy Baldwin Racing,[6] driven by Reed Sorenson.[7] On December 13, 2014, it was announced that Parrott would be the Competition Director for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.[8] Parrott was also named the crew chief on RCR's part-time No. 33 Cup Series car, working nine races for drivers Ty Dillon, Michael Annett, and Brian Scott. Parrott also substituted for Luke Lambert on the RCR No. 31 Cup car of Ryan Newman for six races, while Lambert served a suspension.[9]
Parrott began 2016 working five races on the No. 95 Cup entry of Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing, eventually being named full-time crew chief in October for drivers Ty Dillon and Michael McDowell. He continued in that position for most of 2017 as well.
2018–present: Premium Motorsports, B. J. McLeod Motorsports
In the 2018 season, Parrott moved to Premium Motorsports to crew chief their No. 55 car, where he reunited with Reed Sorenson. He also worked with Ross Chastain (on the No. 15 in one race), J. J. Yeley, Jeffrey Earnhardt, D. J. Kennington, and Jesse Little that year. The No. 55 also switched numbers to the No. 7 during the season after Premium started sharing owner points with NY Racing Team, who previously used the car number by themselves.
After not crew chiefing for any team in 2019, Parrott returned to the pit box in 2020 as the crew chief for B. J. McLeod Motorsports in that team's first season in the Cup Series.
Personal life
Parrott is the son of former Richard Petty crew chief Buddy Parrott and a brother of former Carl Edwards crew chief Brad Parrott.[10][11]
Crew chiefing record
All of Parrott's career as a crew chief has been in the NASCAR Cup Series, except for when he was also the crew chief of the No. 90 Busch Series car in 2005 in five races, four with Elliott Sadler and one with Dale Jarrett.
References
- "Travis Kvapil-Todd Parrott pairing at Yates Racing could be over | NASCAR News Now". SceneDaily.com. 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- "NASCAR — CUP: Parrott Ready To Challenge — SPEEDtv.com". Nascar.speedtv.com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-09. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- "Ambrose, Almirola swap crew chiefs at RPM". NASCAR.com. September 10, 2012. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
- Ryan, Nate (October 17, 2013). "Crew chief Todd Parrott suspended indefinitely". USA Today. McLean, VA. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
- Spencer, Lee (October 22, 2013). "Petty, crew chief Parrott part ways". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
- "Todd Parrott new No. 36 crew chief". ESPN. February 3, 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
- "TOMMY BALDWIN RACING TABS SORENSON FOR NO. 36". NASCAR. February 4, 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- "RCR hires former Sprint Cup champion crew chief". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- "RCR loses final appeal on Tire Penalty". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- Dave Rodman (2010-04-19). "Kenseth, Parrott revisit past at Roush Fenway – Apr 19, 2010". Nascar.Com. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM (2006-06-13). "Shop Talk: Todd Parrott – Jun 13, 2006". Nascar.Com. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
External links
- Todd Parrott crew chief statistics at Racing-Reference