John Klausmeier
Crew Chief, No. 14 Ford Mustang
Birth Date: Feb. 1, 1981
Birth Place: Baltimore, Maryland
Home Town: Perry Hall, Maryland
Residence: Mooresville, North Carolina
Spouse: Brooke
Children: Cam, Olivia
Twitter: https://www.Twitter.com/JohnKlax
Bio:
In the beginning, racing was just a hobby for John Klausmeier, crew chief for Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 14 team and driver Chase Briscoe in the NASCAR Cup Series. That all changed in 2002 after Klausmeier landed an internship at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., while completing his degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland-Baltimore.
With a Bachelor of Science degree in hand, Klausmeier moved to North Carolina to pursue a career in racing. He had turned his hobby into a full-time job.
Klausmeier began his tenure with the Earnhardt team in 2005 as an aerodynamics engineer and then transitioned to test engineer, collaborating with drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Martin Truex Jr., at numerous test sessions on racetracks throughout the United States. Klausmeier became a race engineer in 2007, working with the No. 15 NASCAR Cup Series team of driver Paul Menard before joining Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2009.
As a race engineer at SHR, Klausmeier worked with drivers Ryan Newman, Danica Patrick and Kurt Busch. From SHR’s inception in 2009 through the end of 2017, those drivers scored eight wins along with 55 top-five finishes and 143 top-10s.
Two of those victories, in particular, stand out for Klausmeier. Busch’s victory at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June 2016 came with Klausmeier as his interim crew chief in place of Tony Gibson. And Klausmeier was a part of Busch’s biggest win – the 2017 Daytona 500.
Klausmeier’s accomplishments as an engineer and interim crew chief led to his promotion as the full-time crew chief for driver Aric Almirola and the No. 10 team in 2018.
“I enjoyed the crew chief role in my first full-time year,” Klausmeier said. “The biggest differences were getting to work alongside and rally the talented people we have on our team. As a race engineer, I was so immersed in the technical workings of the car’s performance that I sometimes lost sight of the larger picture. As a crew chief, I get to motivate and rely on the specialists in each area of the team to get the best result possible.”
With Klausmeier calling the shots for Almirola in 2018 and 2019, the driver enjoyed two of the best seasons in his NASCAR Cup Series career. Almirola made the NASCAR Playoffs each year and, in 2018 – his first with SHR – he had his best season to date. Almirola finished a career-best fifth in the championship standings as a member of the 16-driver NASCAR Playoffs and advanced to the Round of 8 for the first time. He won his second career Cup Series race on Oct. 14 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway as part of a season-long tally that included four top-fives and 17 top-10s and 181 laps led, surpassing all of his previous single-season statistics.
Matching those numbers in 2019 proved difficult, but Klausmeier and Almirola continued to perform. Almirola scored his second career NASCAR Cup Series pole – and first with SHR – Feb. 22 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The pole symbolized the team’s strength in qualifying, where Almirola’s 10.5 average starting spot was his best in eight full seasons.
A new challenge was presented to Klausmeier in 2020. He joined the No. 14 team and driver Clint Bowyer, another quick qualifier and race winner who benefitted from Klausmeier’s guidance. Bowyer scored a pole in the third race of the season Feb. 29 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and went on to record 12 top-10 finishes in his final NASCAR season before retiring as a driver. (Bowyer is now a television analyst with FOX’s NASCAR broadcast team.)
When Briscoe took over the No. 14 Ford Mustang as a rookie in 2021, Klausmeier didn’t miss a beat, helping his driver win the rookie-of-the-year title. Then, four races into their second season together, Klausmeier called the shots for Briscoe’s first career NASCAR Cup Series victory. On March 13, 2022 at Phoenix Raceway, Briscoe won in just his 40th career Cup Series start. The victory secured Briscoe’s place in the NASCAR Playoffs and earned him the honor of being the 200th Cup Series winner in NASCAR history.
Klausmeier resides in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife, Brooke, and their son, Cam, and daughter, Olivia.
With a Bachelor of Science degree in hand, Klausmeier moved to North Carolina to pursue a career in racing. He had turned his hobby into a full-time job.
Klausmeier began his tenure with the Earnhardt team in 2005 as an aerodynamics engineer and then transitioned to test engineer, collaborating with drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Martin Truex Jr., at numerous test sessions on racetracks throughout the United States. Klausmeier became a race engineer in 2007, working with the No. 15 NASCAR Cup Series team of driver Paul Menard before joining Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2009.
As a race engineer at SHR, Klausmeier worked with drivers Ryan Newman, Danica Patrick and Kurt Busch. From SHR’s inception in 2009 through the end of 2017, those drivers scored eight wins along with 55 top-five finishes and 143 top-10s.
Two of those victories, in particular, stand out for Klausmeier. Busch’s victory at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June 2016 came with Klausmeier as his interim crew chief in place of Tony Gibson. And Klausmeier was a part of Busch’s biggest win – the 2017 Daytona 500.
Klausmeier’s accomplishments as an engineer and interim crew chief led to his promotion as the full-time crew chief for driver Aric Almirola and the No. 10 team in 2018.
“I enjoyed the crew chief role in my first full-time year,” Klausmeier said. “The biggest differences were getting to work alongside and rally the talented people we have on our team. As a race engineer, I was so immersed in the technical workings of the car’s performance that I sometimes lost sight of the larger picture. As a crew chief, I get to motivate and rely on the specialists in each area of the team to get the best result possible.”
With Klausmeier calling the shots for Almirola in 2018 and 2019, the driver enjoyed two of the best seasons in his NASCAR Cup Series career. Almirola made the NASCAR Playoffs each year and, in 2018 – his first with SHR – he had his best season to date. Almirola finished a career-best fifth in the championship standings as a member of the 16-driver NASCAR Playoffs and advanced to the Round of 8 for the first time. He won his second career Cup Series race on Oct. 14 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway as part of a season-long tally that included four top-fives and 17 top-10s and 181 laps led, surpassing all of his previous single-season statistics.
Matching those numbers in 2019 proved difficult, but Klausmeier and Almirola continued to perform. Almirola scored his second career NASCAR Cup Series pole – and first with SHR – Feb. 22 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The pole symbolized the team’s strength in qualifying, where Almirola’s 10.5 average starting spot was his best in eight full seasons.
A new challenge was presented to Klausmeier in 2020. He joined the No. 14 team and driver Clint Bowyer, another quick qualifier and race winner who benefitted from Klausmeier’s guidance. Bowyer scored a pole in the third race of the season Feb. 29 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and went on to record 12 top-10 finishes in his final NASCAR season before retiring as a driver. (Bowyer is now a television analyst with FOX’s NASCAR broadcast team.)
When Briscoe took over the No. 14 Ford Mustang as a rookie in 2021, Klausmeier didn’t miss a beat, helping his driver win the rookie-of-the-year title. Then, four races into their second season together, Klausmeier called the shots for Briscoe’s first career NASCAR Cup Series victory. On March 13, 2022 at Phoenix Raceway, Briscoe won in just his 40th career Cup Series start. The victory secured Briscoe’s place in the NASCAR Playoffs and earned him the honor of being the 200th Cup Series winner in NASCAR history.
Klausmeier resides in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife, Brooke, and their son, Cam, and daughter, Olivia.
