Steve Letarte
Letarte (right) with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. after winning the 2012 Quicken Loans 400
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Born |
May 14, 1979 Cornish, Maine |
| Residence | Cornelius, North Carolina |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | NASCAR |
| Team | Hendrick Motorsports |
| Retired | 2014 |
Steve Letarte (born May 14, 1979) is a former NASCAR crew chief. Born in Cornish, Maine, he is currently employed at NBC Sports as a color analyst on their telecasts for NASCAR. He left Hendrick Motorsports following the 2014 season after 20 years with the team. From September 2005-November 2010 he was Jeff Gordon's crew chief after taking over the No. 24 Chevrolet from Robbie Loomis. From February 2011-November 2014 he was Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s crew chief.
Letarte began working for Hendrick Motorsports part-time in 1995. In 1996, at the age of 16, he joined the group full-time. From 1997 to 1999, he worked as a tire specialist for Jeff Gordon's #24 team. He then became a mechanic and finally car chief in 2002.
Letarte was promoted from car chief to crew chief after Gordon missed the 2005 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. He was promoted after 26 of the 36 races in the 2005 season.
In Letarte's sixth race as crew chief with Gordon, he visited victory lane for the first time in October 2005, winning the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway, in Martinsville, Virginia. Gordon improved with three top-five finishes in the last five races of the 2005 season.
Entering the 2006 season, Hendrick Motorsports made wholesale changes to the #24 team. Gordon fought major handling issues at almost all of the intermediate racetracks, (1.5/2-mile downforce racetracks) which relegated Gordon to run outside of the top-ten and even outside of the top-fifteen. Gordon finished outside of the top-ten at California, Texas, Charlotte, and Pocono — all of which were down-force tracks.
When the series reached the 2-mile racetrack of Michigan International Speedway, near Brooklyn, Michigan, in mid-June, Gordon experienced a huge turnaround at a track that he had struggled at in previous season. Gordon led the most laps and finished eighth in a rain-shortened event; showing an instant improvement in Gordon's down-force program. For the first time since 2004, the #24 Chevrolet made the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.
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