Chad Walter
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Charles David Walter |
Nationality | Albion, New York, U.S. |
Sport | |
Country | United States |
Sport | NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series |
Team | 71. Spire Motorsports |
Charles David Walter (born June 10, 1971) is a NASCAR
Career
Walter landed his first crew chiefing job in 2005, calling the shots for Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Busch Series team with drivers Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Adrián Fernández, Kyle Krisiloff, and Justin Labonte in 2005 and 2006. He had previously worked as an engineer for Hendrick as well as Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Walter was the crew chief for the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the Busch Series in 2007, working with drivers Casey Mears and Landon Cassill. In 2008, when Hendrick's Nationwide team merged into JR Motorsports, Walter moved to JRM. Since the No. 24 team was shut down as part of the merger, he became crew chief of the No. 5 car, replacing Mike Bumgarner, who remained with Hendrick.
In late February 2008, he was suspended for six races for having an illegal rear spoiler in the opening inspection on
After not working for any team for the remainder of 2008, he joined
Due to sponsor
Walter left for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2013 to work as an engineer. He returned to crew chiefing when MWR fielded a third part-time car, the No. 66, for owner Michael Waltrip, Brett Moffitt, and Jeff Burton, who joined MWR from Richard Childress Racing after semi-retiring.
When MWR closed down after 2015, Walter was picked up by Tommy Baldwin Racing to work on their No. 7 car as the head of engineering.[2] However, TBR would also go on to close down (after 2016), leaving him without a job again.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Walter joined
Before the 2019 season, Walter was supposed to be the car chief for Ty Gibbs' No. 17 team in the K&N East Series for DGR-Crosley, but ahead of the season, he was given another hefty suspension, this time for illegally testing in January of that year. His L-6 suspension was originally indefinitely,[3] but the team appealed and the suspension was reduced.[4] It is unclear when exactly he was reinstated by NASCAR, but after returning, he served as the engineer for Tyler Ankrum's No. 17 team in the Truck Series.[5]
Walter returned to crew chiefing in 2020, leaving DGR-Crosley to join GMS Racing to work on their new No. 26 truck, driven by Ankrum after he also left DGR.[5] In 2021, GMS switched Walter and their No. 24 crew chief Charles Denike, with Walter becoming the crew chief of the No. 24, now driven by Raphaël Lessard, and Denike becoming the crew chief for the No. 26 of Ankrum.[6]
He left GMS to be the crew chief for Our Motorsports' new No. 27 car in the Xfinity Series in 2022, driven by Jeb Burton.[7]
Walter returned to GMS in 2023 to be the crew chief for Rajah Caruth in the No. 24 truck.[8]
Personal life
Walter attended Cornell University where he joined the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers' race car design team. His design team won the national championship twice, enhancing his love for racing. He is married to Sherry Walter.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Unknown". [permanent dead link]
- ^ "Tommy Baldwin Racing restructures with an eye toward improvement". Fox Sports. December 21, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ Walters, Shane (January 31, 2019). "Ty Gibbs handed NASCAR penalty ahead of season opener". Racing News. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ Walters, Shane (February 21, 2019). "Ty Gibbs penalty upheld with modifications". Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ a b McFadin, Daniel (December 13, 2019). "GMS Racing reveals full-time driver-crew chief lineup, number assignments". NBC Sports.
- ^ "GMS Racing announces 2021 crew chief lineup". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 8, 2021.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (December 16, 2021). "Our Motorsports Fielding Three Xfinity Series Entries in 2022 for Brett Moffitt, Jeb Burton and Anthony Alfredo". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ "GMS Racing sets crew chief lineup for 2023 season". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
External links
- Chad Walter crew chief statistics at Racing-Reference