January 4, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Drew Blickensderfer reunited with Aric Almirola for 2022 season

Two-time Daytona 500 winning crew chief Drew Blickensderfer will be reunited with Aric Almirola in 2022.

For the last 13 seasons, the 45-year-old Decatur, Ill.-native has called the shots for NASCAR Cup teams, most recently with Michael McDowell at Front Row Motorsports. 

Blickensderfer was aligned with Almirola near the end of the 2016 season and all of 2017 at Richard Petty Motorsports before the driver left for Stewart-Haas Racing to pilot the No. 10 Smithfield Ford. 

“Super excited to not only be with a team of this caliber but also to work with Aric again,” Blickensderfer said. 

Blickensderfer replaces Mike Bugarewicz, who has been promoted to performance director at SHR. The Nos. 4, 14, and 41 teams remain the same entering the 2022 NASCAR season. 

“Drew has been in the sport a long time and knows how to get the best out of the people around him, and that’s really what the job of crew chief has become,” said Greg Zipadelli, SHR’s vice president of competition. “We have the same parts and pieces, but what we do with those parts and pieces will make the difference. Drew has worked with a lot of drivers and managed a lot of people. He already has a rapport with Aric, and that will make the learning curve in a season full of learning a little less steep.”

With the advent of the NextGen car, and following a disappointing season in which Almirola delivered SHR’s sole win at New Hampshire in July, the organization is hoping to shore up the competition department with Bugarewicz at the helm.

The eight-year SHR veteran has won with all three of the drivers he has guided under the Stewart-Haas roof, including Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Almirola. As a crew chief, “Buga” led teams to the Cup Playoffs for the last four years.

The 39-year-old Leighton, Pennsylvania native holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State University. 

“With the NextGen car being brand new, there will be continuous development on it every time it turns a wheel,” Zipadelli added. “Going into it, we knew we needed to shore up our resources and really bolster our competitive approach. 

“Buga is the right guy to tackle all the newness that’s coming at us pretty fast. He’s an engineer and he’s also a racer. He will be that glue between simulation, at-track reality, engineering and our race teams, and his laser-like focus in this new role of performance director will be a huge asset to our team.”

Blickensderfer won the 2009 Daytona 500 with Matt Kenseth and the 2021 running of the Great American Race with McDowell. Two of Almirola's three career victories have come on superspeedways.