Kenseth prepares for 3rd crew chief this season when Fennig debuts at New Hampshire

Kenseth breaking in a new crew chief _ again

LOUDON, N.H. — Maybe the baseball part of Roush Fenway racing is rubbing off on Jack Roush. He’s churning through crew chiefs for Matt Kenseth like they’re late inning relievers.

Jimmy Fennig is the latest to get the call from the bullpen to sit atop the pit box. Roush replaced Todd Parrott with Fennig on the No. 17 Ford this week, giving Kenseth his third crew chief this season.

Parrott has returned to the research and development department.

Kenseth has had four crew chiefs since Robbie Reiser moved into research and development role after the 2008 season finale.

Who’s warming up?

Roush, who owns four Sprint Cup teams, said a breakdown in communication and effectiveness led to the switch. Kenseth is seventh in the points standings, but has finished no better than 14th in the last three races after a fast start.

Another sore point came last week at Infineon Raceway when the No. 17 had trouble getting through inspection.

“We were a little slow in the garage area,” Roush said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “I don’t fault the guys for that, but the direction and the plan may not have been as well-defined or understood.

“The combination of the plan not working as well as it needed to with the team, and the strategies not working as well as they had in the first few races with Todd resulted in our making the decision that the team wasn’t where it needed to be.”

Kenseth says he hopes an opportunity to “mix things up” will push the team in the right direction.

“It does seem like I’m pretty hard on the crew chiefs lately, that’s for sure,” Kenseth said.

Parrott replaced Drew Blickensderfer after the season-opening Daytona 500. Kenseth won the Cup championship with Reiser in 2003. Reiser was offered the chance at returning to his previous role, but declined for numerous reasons.

“Robbie wants to do everything, so he didn’t want to leave his post at the office,” Kenseth said. “There’s a lot more going on and a lot more important things in Roush Fenway than just one team.”

Roush’s four teams are winless this season. Fennig, who a championship with Kurt Busch in 2004, is confident he can get the team back into Victory Lane.

“Maybe the direction I was heading in R&D will help turn things around,” he said.