Kevin Manion
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Kevin Raymond Manion |
Nickname | Bono |
Nationality | American |
Born | Boylston, Massachusetts, U.S. | June 24, 1972
Sport | |
Country | United States |
Sport | NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series |
Team | No. 2 Rev Racing |
Kevin Raymond Manion (born June 24, 1972), nicknamed Bono, is an American
Early life
Manion was born in
Manion became the crew chief at Sheba Racing in Hudson, Massachusetts in 1993. His team worked a Modified car for
NASCAR career
In 1995, Manion and friend Tommy Baldwin, moved to North Carolina to further their racing career landing the job of general mechanics for the 41 car of Larry Hedrick Motorsports. The team had
Manion became the crew chief of the No. 1 Chevrolet in Sprint Cup but later he was specially selected by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt to head the newly formed Chance 2 Motorsports team in the Busch Series. That team proceeded to win two championships, 12 victories with Martin Truex Jr. and three with Earnhardt Jr. Manion went on to receive the Crew Chief of the Year award.[1]
In 2006, Manion began leading the No. 1 team in the Cup Series. In 2007, with Truex driving, the team claimed their first Pole Award, seven top-five finishes, 14 top-10s and their first Cup win at
When Truex left for
In 2011, Manion fielded a
Manion later joined Tommy Baldwin Racing, working with Alex Bowman's No. 7, though on May 5, 2015, he joined Richard Petty Motorsports as Sam Hornish Jr.'s crew chief on the No. 9.[3] On December 10, Manion announced that he had left RPM.[4]
On January 6, 2016, it was announced Manion would become crew chief for a
Manion served as the crew chief for
In 2020, he moved to GMS Racing to become crew chief for Zane Smith on the No. 21. The team change also reunited him with Ankrum, who joined GMS' No. 26.[7] Smith and Manion both returned for a second year in 2021 and won at Martinsville in October to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, where they would finish second in the standings.
On November 23, 2021, it was announced that Manion would be leaving GMS to be the crew chief for Spire Motorsports in their expansion into the Truck Series.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Kevin Manion". The Crew Chief Club. Archived from the original on 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2011-01-17.
- ^ "Car No. 7 Whelen Modified Tour Team Penalized For Rules Violations At NHMS". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
- ^ Ryan, Nate (May 5, 2015). "Kevin Manion named Sam Hornish Jr.'s crew chief, replacing Drew Blickensderfer". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
- ^ Spencer, Lee (December 11, 2015). "Kevin "Bono" Manion and Richard Petty Motorsports part ways". Motorsport.com. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Addition of Manion Completes KBM Crew Chief Lineup for 2016". Kyle Busch Motorsports. January 6, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2016.[permanent dead link]
- DGR-Crosley. October 8, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ^ McFadin, Daniel (December 13, 2019). "GMS Racing reveals full-time driver-crew chief lineup, number assignments". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ^ "Spire Motorsports to Field Truck Series Team in 2022". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
External links
- Kevin Manion crew chief statistics at Racing-Reference