Todd Parrott


Todd Parrott is an American stock car racing crew chief. He currently works for B. J. McLeod Motorsports as the crew chief for their No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series. He is most well-known for his long tenure at Robert Yates Racing as Dale Jarrett's crew chief on the No. 88 Ford. The duo won 29 races together as well as the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship.
Parrott also worked with Ernie Irvan, Elliott Sadler, and David Gilliland while at Yates. Over his career, Parrott has also worked for Petty Enterprises, Hall of Fame Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Tommy Baldwin Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Circle Sport, Leavine Family Racing, and Premium Motorsports. Parrott's other two wins as a crew chief came with Marcos Ambrose at RPM.
As of May 2020, he is also tied for being the second most-winning active crew chief in the Cup Series with 31 career wins, which puts him behind Chad Knaus and tied with Paul Wolfe.

Career

1995–2005: Robert Yates Racing

Parrott's first crew chief position was working with Ernie Irvan in 1995 at Yates Racing on the new #88 Ford for two races. When the No. 88 went full time in 1996, Parrott became the crew chief for Dale Jarrett, winning the 1999 Cup Series championship. After 2002, Parrott worked for periods with several Yates drivers including Jarrett, Elliott Sadler, Travis Kvapil, and David Gilliland.

2006: Petty Enterprises

In 2006, Parrott left RYR to crew chief the famous No. 43 Petty Enterprises Dodge, driven by Bobby Labonte, but returning to Yates during the season to work with rookie David Gilliland, who had just replaced Sadler in the No. 38 car.

2006–2009: Second stint at Yates (including Hall of Fame Racing)

After Parrott returned to RYR, he and Gilliland won the pole for the Talladega race. The pair remained together for the entire 2007 season. However, for 2008, Parrott was moved to the other Yates car, the No. 28, with Travis Kvapil. For 2009, Parrott was moved Hall of Fame Racing, a satellite team to Yates Racing which switched from Toyota to Ford that year after previously having an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. HOF would begin operating out the Yates shop in 2009. The driver was Bobby Labonte, who Parrott reunited with after previously working with him in 2006, but once again, the duo failed to make it through a full season, and Parrott was replaced on the No. 96 car by Ben Leslie during the season. Both Hall of Fame Racing and Yates Racing would close down after the 2009 season due to lack of sponsorship, with Yates equipment and owner points being inherited by Front Row Motorsports.

2010–2013: Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports

Parrott remained in the Ford family in 2010, initially working the speedway program in the Research and Development department of Roush Fenway Racing but quickly became Matt Kenseth's crew chief on the No. 17 after the 2010 Daytona 500, replacing Drew Blickensderfer, who was reassigned to Carl Edwards' No. 60 car in the Nationwide Series. Midway through the season, however, Parrott was released, and he joined Richard Petty Motorsports starting at Chicagoland Speedway as crew chief for Elliott Sadler's No. 19. After RPM reduced from four cars to two for 2011, he moved to the No. 9 team and driver Marcos Ambrose. Two-thirds through the 2012 season, RPM's teams switched crew chiefs with Parrott going to the No. 43 of Aric Almirola, where he remained for 2013.
On October 17, 2013, it was announced that Parrott had been indefinitely suspended due to failing to meet NASCAR's substance abuse policy. He was released by Richard Petty Motorsports on October 21.

2014–2017: Tommy Baldwin Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Circle Sport, Leavine Family Racing

On February 3, 2014, Parrott was named the crew chief of the No. 36 of Tommy Baldwin Racing, driven by Reed Sorenson. On December 13, 2014, it was announced that Parrott would be the Competition Director for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Parrott was also named the crew chief on RCR's part-time No. 33 Cup Series car, working nine races for drivers Ty Dillon, Michael Annett, and Brian Scott. Parrott also substituted for Luke Lambert on the RCR No. 31 Cup car of Ryan Newman for six races, while Lambert served a suspension.
Parrott began 2016 working five races on the No. 95 Cup entry of Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing, eventually being named full-time crew chief in October for drivers Ty Dillon and Michael McDowell. He continued in that position for most of 2017 as well.

2018–present: Premium Motorsports, B. J. McLeod Motorsports

In the 2018 season, Parrott moved to Premium Motorsports to crew chief their No. 55 car, where he reunited with Reed Sorenson. He also worked with Ross Chastain, J. J. Yeley, Jeffrey Earnhardt, D. J. Kennington, and Jesse Little that year. The No. 55 also switched numbers to the No. 7 during the season after Premium started sharing owner points with NY Racing Team, who previously used the car number by themselves.
After not crew chiefing for any team in 2019, Parrott returned to the pit box in 2020 as the crew chief for B. J. McLeod Motorsports in that team's first season in the Cup Series.

Personal life

Parrott is the son of former Richard Petty crew chief Buddy Parrott and a brother of former Carl Edwards crew chief Brad Parrott.

Crew chiefing record

All of Parrott's career as a crew chief has been in the NASCAR Cup Series, except for when he was also the crew chief of the No. 90 Busch Series car in 2005 in five races, four with Elliott Sadler and one with Dale Jarrett.
Year#Team
1995#88Robert Yates Racing
1996–2002#88Robert Yates Racing
2003#38Robert Yates Racing
2004#38Robert Yates Racing
2005#38Robert Yates Racing
2005#88Robert Yates Racing
2006#43Petty Enterprises
2006#38Robert Yates Racing
2007#38Robert Yates Racing
2008#28Yates Racing
2009#96Hall of Fame Racing
2010#17Roush Fenway Racing
2010#19Richard Petty Motorsports
2011#9Richard Petty Motorsports
2012#9Richard Petty Motorsports
2012#43Richard Petty Motorsports
2013#43Richard Petty Motorsports
2014#36Tommy Baldwin Racing
2015#33Richard Childress Racing
2015#31Richard Childress Racing
2016#95Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing
2017#95Leavine Family Racing
2018#15Premium Motorsports
2018#55 / #7Premium Motorsports
2020#78B. J. McLeod Motorsports