NASCAR on Thursday named Int'l Motor Sports Association VP/Racing Operations RICHARD BUCK Sprint Cup Series Managing Dir. Buck replaces JOHN DARBY, who will remain as NASCAR's Competition Managing Dir. Buck, Nationwide Series Managing Dir WAYNE AUTON and Camping World Truck Series Managing Dir CHAD LITTLE will report directly to NASCAR VP/Competition ROBIN PEMBERTON. Buck will remain in his role with IMSA through the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month. Buck also was NASCAR Touring Series Managing Dir, but will relinquish that role to Touring Series Dir BRAD MORAN (NASCAR). USA TODAY's Nate Ryan wrote the hiring of Buck is the "first major announcement of a month expected to be full of competition changes." NASCAR President MIKE HELTON said the hiring signifies one of many ways of "re-creating NASCAR's approach to competition." He added that Darby would "attend fewer races and spend more time working on long-term projects" at the Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C. (USATODAY.com, 1/9). FOXSPORTS.com's Lee Spencer noted Buck "brings a wealth of motorsports experience to the position," as he "came up through open-wheel ranks as a crew chief, team manager and director of operations, and led teams to three Indianapolis 500 victories during his tenure in CART." Buck prior to joining NASCAR in '05 "worked with teams" from NASCAR's top three divisions. While one of Darby's "greatest strengths is his relationship with the competitors, Buck believes that's one of the traits that will make him equally effective" (FOXSPORTS.com, 1/9).
OTHER MOTORSPORTS MOVES: Pocono Raceway named Penn State Univ. Building Coordinator KEVIN HENRY Senior Dir/Facility Operations and promoted BEN MAY to CMO and ROGER GREEN to Senior Dir/Corporate Partnerships (Pocono)....Toyota Racing Development "effectively removes" the interim tag from President & GM DAVID WILSON, who had overseen its NASCAR program since June (TWITTER.com, 1/9).
