“Bobby Labonte wanted to help our team grow and develop when he signed with our organization at the beginning of the 2011 season,” JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty said. “He continues to do a tremendous job for us. Bobby has given us his ideas for improving the product, and we believe A.J. will do the same.”

According the team press release, the decision to put Allmendinger in the car for select races was made with the hopes of helping the organization’s development of its Gen-6 race cars.

“A single-car team does not have the benchmarking capabilities of all the multi-car operations we compete against each weekend,” team Competition Director Bobby Hutchens said. “This move will help us identify where our cars stand so that we can go to work on the next generation of our car design.”

Allmendinger has been racing a partial Sprint Cup Series schedule, so far, this year from behind the wheel of the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet while also racing part-time in the IZOD IndyCar Series for Team Penske. He has previously raced full-time at the NASCAR Sprint Cup level for teams including Penske Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports and Red Bull Racing.

“I have raced for Phoenix Racing some this year and feel confident I’ll be able to provide JTG Daugherty Racing with a good comparison,” Allmendinger said. “I’m thankful for this opportunity to work with the team and Bobby (Labonte).”

– Photo courtesy of Getty Images for NASCAR

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Furniture Row Racing announced Tuesday morning that Todd Berrier has joined that organization to replace Pete Rondeau as crew chief for No. 78 team and driver Regan Smith.

“Todd will be a great fit with our operation,” Furniture Row Racing General Manager Joe Garone said. “The skill sets he has acquired during a successful crew chief career will be valuable assets as we move forward with a high level of energy and anticipation.”

Berrier leaves JTG Daugherty Racing, a team he joined at the conclusion of the 2011 season, to join the Furniture Row fold. Prior to his somewhat brief stint with the JTG Daugherty organization, Berrier worked as a crew chief for 11 years with drivers including Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Casey Mears at Richard Childress Racing. While with RCR, Berrier called the shots for eight trips to victory lane.

With Berrier’s recent departure from JTG Daugherty, that, of course, left a crew chief vacancy for the No. 47 team with driver Bobby Labonte. At nearly the same time as Furniture Row’s announcement of Berrier’s hiring, JTG Daugherty Racing released a statement of its own, announcing David Hyder as an interim crew chief for the No. 47 team.

According to the announcement, the organization has a permanent replacement in mind but isn’t yet ready to officially hire said permanent crew chief.

“We have our eye on the crew chief that we want for the long term, but couldn’t get it all done in time for the next few races,” team co-owner Tad Geschickter said. “We would rather make the right decision for the long term.”

Until that time comes, Hyder’s the man. Until this point, Hyder has been a crew chief on JTG Daugherty’s NASCAR K&N Series East team.

Photo of Todd Berrier (left) with fellow-crew chief Steve Addington courtesy of Getty Images for NASCAR

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