Gaunt named VP at Bill Davis amid reorganization

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Bill Davis, president of Bill Davis Racing, on Monday announced a reorganization of the company's management team. Davis, who with wife Gail has fielded teams in NASCAR for more than 20 years, has added several key personnel and shifted several others within the organization. All changes are effective immediately.

NASCAR veteran Marty Gaunt has been named vice president of BDR. Gaunt began his tenure in NASCAR in 1996 and has held similar positions at Penske Racing and Red Bull Racing Team, which he left at the end of last summer after steering that organization into Cup racing from the end of 2006. Gaunt was also part owner of Red Horse Racing, which still fields Toyota trucks in the Craftsman Truck Series.

"It's an honor for me to able to be a part of Bill Davis Racing with Bill and Gail," Gaunt said. "Bill has fielded teams for 21 years now and to be considered to be a part of the reorganization is a great opportunity. I'm excited about the tasks at hand and ready to get started."

Mark Chambers, who previously served as team manager of BDR's Craftsman Truck Series effort, will now assume the role of the general manager of Bill Davis Racing. Chambers has been with the team since 2006 and now takes over the GM role from Mike Brown, who will move into the position of chief financial officer.

"I'm confident the modifications we've made to our management and front-office staff will make our entire organization stronger," Davis said. "Our Truck Series program continues to thrive, but there isn't any doubt that the Cup Series program has struggled this year."

BDR's primary Cup program, the No. 22 Toyota driven by Dave Blaney, is currently 37th in the driver and owner points, where it's 23 points out of the locked-in top 35 position in the standings. The organization started the season running a second Cup program, the No. 27 Camry for Canadian open-wheel champion Jacques Villeneuve, but was forced to park it due to a lack of sponsorship after attempting four events and making only the race at Las Vegas with driver Mike Skinner.

BDR's three full-time Truck Series teams are currently ninth (Johnny Benson), 12th (rookie Phillip McGilton) and 14th (Skinner). Davis recently announced plans to run a fourth truck in a partial schedule for Red Bull Racing development driver and former Formula One pilot Scott Speed, which will be headed by Villeneuve's former crew chief, Cup veteran Slugger Labbe.

"Our partnership with Caterpillar is over 10 years strong, and we owe it to them and to ourselves to make sure we have the best possible people in the most important positions," Davis said. "We have great partners in Caterpillar and Toyota and we hope to continue our affiliation with them for many years to come. I'm confident the changes we've announced [Monday] will ensure a strong future for this team."

In addition, Davis has hired Jim Thomas as the organization's director of marketing. Thomas, a Florida native, has been the director of business development for Sullivan Worldwide Marketing Group, a strategic marketing and planning agency to the United States motorsports industry. Prior to that, he spent several years within the financial arm of Southeast Toyota.

BDR also fields a part-time developmental program for Michael Annett in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, where the Des Moines, Iowa, driver has scored consecutive victories in superspeedway races at Talladega (2007) and Daytona (2008 season opener).