TRUCKS: ThorSport Swaps Crew Chiefs Between Its No. 66, 99 Trucks

Originally posted on Racing America on SI
By Toby Christie | Last updated Jun 20, 2025 11:30 AM ET

Rusty Jarrett | NKP for Ford Performance

ThorSport Racing is no stranger to mid-season crew chief changes, and the team, which has powered drivers to five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championships, is at it again. Heading into Friday afternoon's MillerTech Battery 200 at Pocono Raceway, the team has swapped crew chiefs for the part-time No. 66 team, driven this week by Luke Baldwin, and Ben Rhodes' No. 99 team.

In addition to the swapping of the crew chiefs, ThorSport has also swapped the entire pit crew and truck chiefs for the two trucks.

The move will send two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship-winning crew chief Rich Lushes to the No. 66 team, while Doug George will move over to turn call the shots for Rhodes, a two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship-winning driver, and the No. 99 team.

George, 64, is a veteran crew chief within the sport, who has served in the role part-time and full-time since the 1999 season. In 341 career starts, George has won two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races atop the pit box, and he finished a career-best fourth in the championship standings with Johnny Sauter in 2015.

In his last start, George guided rookie contender Luke Fenhaus to a pole position, and third-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. Rhodes and Lushes finished one spot behind in fourth in that race.

With five races remaining in the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular season, Rhodes is the second driver outside of the Playoff cutline, and he sits at 55 points behind Ty Majeski, his ThorSport Racing teammate for the final spot in the Playoff Grid.

At that kind of a deficit, Rhodes will likely have to win to advance to the Playoffs this season. Rhodes has collected seven wins over his 223-race NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career.

Six drivers (Corey Heim, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, Stewart Friesen, and Rajah Caruth) have locked their place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs by way of winning races, which leaves just four spots in the Playoff field for drivers to lock in on points.