Joe Gibbs Racing

The NASCAR world changes every year, but Crew Chief Greg Zipadelli and the No. 20 Home Depot Team have been one of the most consistent forces in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing during the past decade. This year however, the team is welcoming a new member, 18-year-old Joey Logano who replaces Tony Stewart as the driver of The Home Depot machine in 2009. Zipadelli, known as Zippy by those around him, embarks on a challenge he hasn't faced in 10 years - guiding a rookie driver in one of the most competitive forms of racing in the world.

No stranger to guiding young talent, Zipadelli led a then 28-year-old Tony Stewart to the Rookie of the Year title during the inaugural season of the No. 20 Home Depot Team in 1999. The pair created a new standard for rookie drivers and teams when they visited victory lane three times, a feat matched just once since then by current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson in 2002. If anyone is up to the task of running for a rookie title again, it's Zipadelli.

Under Zipadelli's guidance, the No. 20 team built Home Depot cars during the past 10 years that Stewart drove to two NASCAR Sprint Cup Championships, a rookie of the year title, 33 wins, 10 poles and over 10,000 laps led. Zipadelli's commitment to Joe Gibbs Racing, his team, his driver and his sponsor have made him one of the most respected crew chiefs in the NASCAR community. His mechanical skills, leadership and race day prowess have made him one of the formidable crew chiefs as well.

As Zipadelli prepares to lead his team in 2009 with young Logano behind the wheel, he will rely on a career of success that he started experiencing at a young age himself. Zipadelli was a championship-winning crew chief by the time he was 20 years old. The Connecticut-born Zipadelli and driver Mike McLaughlin captured the Whelen Modified Championship in the Northeast while recording five wins and 15 top-five finishes in 1988. McLaughlin moved up to the NASCAR Camping World Series East in 1990, and Zipadelli followed. The duo of McLaughlin and Zipadelli captured five wins in three seasons, as McLaughlin was named the series' Most Popular Driver two years in a row.

Zipadelli remained in the Camping World Series East after McLaughlin moved to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 1994. In 1996 Zipadelli began working with driver Mike Stefanik. In their first year together, Zipadelli guided him to eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes. Just one year later, Zipadelli earned his second touring series title when Stefanik captured the Camping World Series East championship with two victories and 14 top-five finishes in 1997.

In 1998, Zipadelli headed south to join Roush Fenway Racing's NASCAR Sprint Cup operation as the chassis specialist for the No. 99 team with driver Jeff Burton. Burton finished fifth in the Cup standings in 1998, winning two races and scoring 18 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes. It took just one year in NASCAR's top series before Zipadelli was back atop the pit box.

Joe Gibbs Racing entered into its eighth year in NASCAR in 1999 and formed a second team to build on the success it was having with driver Bobby Labonte and the No. 18 team. The Gibbs organization hired Stewart and Zipadelli to begin the No. 20 Home Depot Team to compete that season. The two cars finished in the top five in the championship point standings with Stewart winning rookie honors. Labonte would earn Joe Gibbs Racing its first championship in 2000. Then, in just the No. 20 team's fourth year of existence, Zipadelli and Stewart gave the organization its second championship in 2002 by a 38-point margin over Mark Martin. The Zipadelli-Stewart pair earned three victories, two poles, 15 top-five finishes and never slowed down.

In 2003 and 2004, Zipadelli and The Home Depot Team combined to win four races, scored 37 top 10s and finished in the top 10 in the championship point standings for the sixth year in a row. The following year Zipadelli and his crew visited victory lane five times with Stewart, including an emotional victory at the Brickyard 400, and earned the No. 20 team's second NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. During the 2005 championship season, the No. 20 Home Depot team put forth an average finish of 10th throughout the season and led more than 1,800 laps. Combine those stats with the fact that the Home Depot Car was running at the finish of 35 of the 36 races made the 2005 season the most consistent for the team and the perfect season for the "Chase for the Cup" format.

During the next three seasons with Zipadelli calling the shots, The Home Depot Team visited victory lane nine times and earned 36 top-five and 58 top-10 finishes. As Zipadelli and Stewart's time together came to a close in 2008, the pair earned their 33rd and final victory together during the 500-mile race at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

As he turns his attention to the 2009 season, Zipadelli will draw from his vast experience as a crew chief to help build and guide the career of yet another young, up-and-coming driver in Logano.