At just 18-years old, Brent Crews has found himself in a unique position. Despite competing in all but four races in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this season, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has raced his way into the conversation for a spot in ‘The Chase’. With every start carrying performance, Crews has turned limited opportunities into championship aspirations, proving that quality can outweigh quantity.
“We knew we did the math at the start of the year being four races behind and felt like it was doable if we really put ourselves in a good stretch of races and we did,” Crews said. “Ultimately we’re here now and everybody’s on the same playing field, it’s may the best man win.”
Before the upcoming ‘Pennzoil 250’ at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Crews and the No. 19 team sit 11th in the standings with eight top-5s, 11 top-10s, 540 points, and an average finish of 12.1. With three races remaining in the regular season, the battle to stay above the cutline continues to ramp up.
Racing for points and finishing well against other great cars in the field can be tough, but doing so alongside your teammates can be even trickier. Behind Crews sits between two of his his JGR teammates in points. Taylor Gray in the No. 54 in 12th, and William Sawalich in 14th in the No. 18. Crews knows that racing for a spot could come at the cost of ruffling some feathers unintentionally from within.
“It’s mainly just when you’re racing around them, me and William had that incident at Chicagoland,” Crews said. “You obviously race your other competitors that are under your vein or harder than you would try to race your teammates. Just taking it one race at a time and maximizing stage points to the best of our ability.”
Before the season, Crews had built an impressive resume, winning races in the Trans-Am Series, dirt cars, asphalt late models, and the ARCA Menards Series. When fully acclimated to NOAPS, Crews shared that a new learning experience has played a big role when competing on Saturday’s from the aerodynamics of the car.
“I definitely had to learn the aero side of it, it’s just way different,” Crews replied. “I’ve never had to worry about aero, right? Like, in a late model, they teach you to have like a headlight out or get a foot or two on the left front tire so it’ll turn a little bit better. I remember going to Watkins Glen in an ARCA car and trying to figure out what side drafting was, just never really learned anything like that because I didn’t need to. So it’s still learning and still trying to figure all that stuff out and try to be the best I can.”
Speaking of ‘experience’, atop the pit box for the No. 19 team is Seth Chavka, a long time engineer with JGR and was with the team the previous year winning three-races with veteran driver Aric Almirola. When it was made clear the two would work together the following season, establishing what both sides expected out of each other was the first step.
“Seth is super cool. We figured out we were going to be working together right around when the season was ending, we just did our best to communicate and learn each other,” Crews said. “Just talking about normal stuff and making friends with him and figure out what our lingo is and all that stuff is just super crucial to be able to head into the weekend and be comfortable.”
The guidance doesn’t stop there. Driving for one of the best organizations in the sport’s history comes with mentorship from some of the biggest names in NASCAR, including a current Hall of Famer.
“Christopher [Bell], Chase [Briscoe], guys like that are just super crucial to be able to have, Kevin Harvick as well has helped me a ton,” Crews said. “It’s been a group effort, theres so many people to think from beyond the years, it really makes a team.”
Now eligible to race everywhere he pleases, ‘The Chase’ schedule already has this future star of the sport circling tracks on the calendar, eager to put the pedal to the metal when the time comes. When asked about what tracks Crews is looking forward to, the answer was immediate.
“Vegas and Homestead, I’m super excited to go,” Crews replied, smiling. “Vegas is cool because you are either on the apron or on the wall, Homestead is the same way as well and I love that kind of stuff. I love being able to move around and search for lanes.”
Crews and the No. 19 group will head to Indianapolis this weekend to continue their strong and promising run this season on Saturday, July 25 at 4 p.m. EST on CW Sports.
