Ganassi sign new competition boss

Hmiel began working in NASCAR with Petty Enterprises, helping Richard Petty win Cup titles in 1975 and 1979 as car chief as well as the Daytona 500 in 1979 and 1981. He also won the title in 1984 as the crew chief for Terry Labonte and Bill Hagan Racing.

He was also the first general manager of Roush Racing, working for Jack Roush since 1987. He them moved to Dale Earnhardt Inc in 1998, taking both their first Craftsman Truck and Busch titles in that year. He was released from his position with the team only last week, nine years after Dale Earnhardt himself hired him.

"When you plug a guy in like that I would hope I am moving closer to that goal as opposed to moving away from it," said Chip Ganassi. "Any time you can add somebody good to your team that puts you closer to that goal.

"I thought we had some momentum going there earlier in the year. We kind of peaked and we have plateaued. We have to make the next step. We're still getting beat by teams I don't think we should be getting beat by."

Hmiel says he likes Ganassi's approach to his job as a team owner, probably as opposed to his former boss Theresa Earnhardt who rarely attends races. He expects to make a difference in his new role with the team.

"I saw an owner at the race track that wanted to boost his group a little bit," Hmiel said. "Things went along pretty quickly. There is a lot of comfort in not having too many bosses and there is a lot of comfort in having a boss that is standing right there watching what is going on.

"Everybody looks at Rick Hendrick and sees what he does. But we also understand that there were times that he had a terrible time. He brought in the right people and got it going in the right direction and he was able to maintain it. It is something that [all the owners] fight everyday. We have to take the group of guys that we have and improve on them."

Hmiel's focus will be on competition management and preparation, including race engineering. John Fernandez remains as the managing director of the team, focusing on the long-term strategic direction of the organisation.