Trackhouse Racing and Spire Motorsports have announced crew chief changes for the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season while confirming news that broke over championship weekend.
Videos by FanBuzz
Blake Harris, as first reported by Racer, will leave Hendrick Motorsports. He will head to Trackhouse Racing to join the No. 97 team. He will move forward with Shane van Gisbergen as the New Zealand native enters his third full season at NASCAR's top level.
Stephen Doran, who guided the No. 97 team this season, will move to Spire Motorsports. He will replace Travis Peterson on the No. 71 team while working with Michael McDowell. Peterson has been offered a lead engineering role at the company.
This marks a reunion for Doran, who guided van Gisbergen to seven wins over two seasons. He previously served as crew chief of the No. 71 Chevrolet in 2024 while working with Zane Smith.
"Our 2027 season starts today so we're eager to bring Stephen back to Spire Motorsports," said Spire Motorsports Co-Owner Jeff Dickerson in a press release. "He's an exceptionally talented individual, a winning crew chief and someone who fits in with our group, seamlessly.
"Spire had a great 2026 season, so we have a lot to be proud of. Adding Stephen to the mix with Matt McCall and reuniting him with Ryan (Sparks), Luke (Lambert) and Dax (Garringer) gives me a lot of confidence that our best days as an organization are still in front of us."
Harris, a former car chief at Furniture Row Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, has led the No. 48 team since the 2023 season while guiding Alex Bowman to one win on the streets of Chicago. Their tenure together ended with 49 top-10 finishes and 21 top-fives.
Harris previously spent the 2022 season as McDowell's crew chief at Front Row Motorsports. That season, McDowell posted a career-best average finish of 16.7. He didn't win a race, but he finished in the top 10 a career-high 12 times. His best finishes that season were third at Sonoma Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.
