Michael Matthew Bugarewicz (pronounced "bug-uh-rav-itch"; born January 22, 1982), nicknamed "Buga",[1] is an American NASCAR team executive who works for Stewart-Haas Racing as their performance director. He also is currently serving as their interim crew chief for their No. 14 car in the NASCAR Cup Series driven by Chase Briscoe. He previously served as the permanent crew chief of that car from 2016 to 2019 when it was driven by Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer as well as from 2020 to 2021 on their No. 10 car driven by Aric Almirola.
.jpg) Bugarewicz at ISM Raceway in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Matthew Bugarewicz |
| Nationality |  American |
| Born | January 22, 1982 Lehighton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Penn State University |
| Occupation | Interim crew chief |
| Years active | 2016-present |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | Motor racing |
| League | NASCAR Cup Series |
| Team | 14. Stewart-Haas Racing |
Racing career
editPrior to being a crew chief, he was the engineer for Kevin Harvick's No. 4 team at SHR, where he won the 2014 championship with him as well as a second-place points finish in 2015, which included a remarkable thirteen second-place race finishes and 28 top-10 race finishes for Harvick and the team that year. He currently serves as director of performance for SHR.[2] In 2016, he was promoted to crew chief for SHR's No. 14 team, where he worked with Tony Stewart in 2016 and Clint Bowyer[3][4] from 2017 to 2019. In 2020, he became the crew chief for SHR's No. 10 Ford Mustang driven by Aric Almirola for Stewart-Haas Racing in a swap with Johnny Klausmeier, who moved from the No. 10 car to the No. 14 car. [5] He was promoted to Performance Director for SHR in 2022.
On May 31, 2023, NASCAR issued an L3 penalty to Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team after a counterfeit part was found on the car after it was taken to the NASCAR R&D Center after the Coca-Cola 600. Crew chief Johnny Klausmeier was suspended for the next six races (Gateway, Sonoma, Nashville, the Chicago Street Course, Atlanta and New Hampshire)[6] The team decided not to appeal the penalty and Bugarewicz returned to crew chief for SHR for Briscoe in these six races.[7]
References
edit- ^ "MIKE 'BUGA' BUGAREWICZ: Crew Chief, No. 14 Chevrolet" (PDF). truespeedcommunication.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
- ^ "Stewart-Haas Racing Bolsters Competition Leadership with Key Promotion and New Addition". 4 January 2022.
- ^ Spencer, Lee (April 7, 2017). "Why Mike Bugarewicz is the perfect crew chief for Clint Bowyer". Motorsport.com. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
- ^ DeCola, Pat (October 20, 2017). "Clint Bowyer addresses confrontation with crew chief, team's future". NASCAR.com. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
- ^ Page, Scott (December 4, 2019). "Stewart-Haas Racing announces 2020 crew chief lineup". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ "NASCAR issues L3-level penalty to Stewart-Haas Racing for counterfeit part". NASCAR. May 31, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ^ "Mike Bugarewicz to crew chief for Chase Briscoe at Gateway". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
External links
edit- Mike Bugarewicz crew chief statistics at Racing-Reference
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