Kerr named as Reutimann's crew chief.

Rocked by Larry Carter's decision to defect to Roush Racing, Michael Waltrip has elected to bring in the largely unheralded Frank Kerr as David Reutimann's crew chief for the 2007 season.

On the surface it seems as though Kerr will have a mammoth task on his hands just to keep his job, as not only does he have to guide the inexperienced Reutimann into the first five races of the year at least via his qualifying performance, he also has to do it with a brand new team using a brand new car and with not one but two major corporate sponsors behind him.

However, dig a little deeper and Waltrip's move to bring in Kerr as the crew chief of the #00 Burger King/Domino's Pizza backed machine could be an inspired one, as Reutimann has known Kerr since he was a teenager.

A former driver and rival of Reutimann's father 'Buzzie', Kerr may only have been a MWR employee for some six months but he already has a closer relationship with his new driver than the disgruntled Carter could have hoped to achieve.

"Interestingly enough, I met Frank when I was 14 years old," Reutimann stated. "He was a successful Sprint car driver and I was a huge fan. I was at the Florida Fairgrounds because my dad was racing there. I went and bought a photograph Frank's car and stood in line for his autograph. I still have that photograph today. It's crazy how different our paths were and we've ended up in the same place after all these years.

"Michael has made some significant decisions for his company over the past months and I'm happy Frank has been presented with this opportunity and has accepted," Reutimann continued. "We've worked together during test sessions and that has given us time to get to know each other. Frank has been a driver, a crew chief and a car chief in his career, which will be beneficial to our team.

"Since he has raced cars and worked on them, it will help us communicate successfully as driver and crew chief. He has an understanding of the inner workings of a race team and what I need to be an effective driver."

Kerr remembers meeting the young and impressionable Reutimann like it was yesterday.

"If you are a true racer, you have heard of 'Buzzie' [Reutimann] and I'll never forget the day David approached me for an autograph when I was racing in his home state of Florida," Kerr said. "The saying that 'it is a small world' holds true in this business. His father is a champion and a legend. He still races today and is still winning championships.

"I'm proud to have the chance to work with his son on this level. We are two hometown drivers that made it to the big time and I'm thankful for this chance."

Kerr has worked with Reutimann during multiple Nextel Cup Series test sessions laying the groundwork for his new role and looks forward to his full-time as crew chief.

"I have seen our prospects firsthand with Toyota and this is the type of opportunity that I have hoped for during my career," Kerr added. "Michael Waltrip Racing believes in David and so do I. He's been doing a great job and I'm glad we are able to continue our work together on a greater scale."

"David has been our primary Nextel Cup test driver since this past summer and every test has been directed by Frank Kerr," said Ty Norris, General Manager for Michael Waltrip Racing. "Every time they have worked together they have been fast. Frank gained a tremendous amount of confidence in David and they have already worked through that critical communication barrier that normally hinders a new driver/crew chief combination. That weighed heavily in the decision. Frank has meant so much to us in getting our programme started that he deserves the chance to be David's crew chief."

"It made perfect sense to promote Frank to crew chief," said Waltrip. "Frank fits our crew chief mould. Kerr joins Matt (Borland) and David (Hyder) to complete our crew chief line-up."

Kerr's first experience as a Cup Series crew chief was with the short-lived #08 Braun Racing entry in 2005. The Pennsylvania native also worked for Robby Gordon Motorsports as a co-crew chief of the #7 entry during the same year.

Kerr has been involved in racing his entire life whether it has been both behind the wheel or under the hood of a car. As a driver, Kerr won 250 races. He has won in all different types of open wheel racing, such as, USAC, World of Outlaws and All Star (four-time ALL STAR Champion.