NHRA: Benza tabs Wagner as crew chief

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. (Dec. 23) -- One of the up-and-coming tuning
stars in the Pro Stock ranks, 28-year-old crew chief Billy Wagner,
resigned his position with Larry Morgan Racing to take a job with fellow
New Yorker Bob Benza. Wagner, who has tuned Morgan’s Dodge for the last
three seasons, replaces Andy Enax as crew chief on Benza’s team. Enax
will remain with the group as a consultant.

Wagner rose to prominence in the IHRA, spending seven seasons with Pro
Stock driver John Montecalvo. Beginning in his teenage years, the Long
Island, N.Y., native lifted Montecalvo to contender status with a spate
of speed and elapsed time records, including the first 6.5-second lap in
Mountain Motor history. Wagner was also named as a finalist for Crew
Chief of the Year after helping Montecalvo to his first career win and a
third-place finish in the points.

His success in the IHRA caught the attention of Morgan, who brought
Wagner over to serve as his crew chief on his NHRA team after the start
of the 1999 season. Since then, Wagner has helped Morgan qualify for
several races and post respectable mid-teen finishes in the points.

“We were top 10 for several years in a row with the IHRA team,” Wagner
said. “But I knew if I wanted to do this for a living then I needed to
come to the NHRA. Larry gave a young guy a chance and I’m very grateful
to him. I feel like I did a good job for him and I certainly enjoyed my
time over there.

“We had some success and we had our share of problems. There were a lot
of developmental problems we encountered with the new Hemi and we had
the new car blues for awhile with the Neon R/T. But we really started to
show our potential in the last year and a half. I’m proud of what we
accomplished there.”

Wagner’s expanded role with Morgan, which included driving the
transporter, working in the engine shop between races, and making the
tuning calls, prompted him to look for a new way to race without
spending as much time on the project.

“Guys like Larry are becoming harder to find,” Wagner said. “He lives
and breathes his race team. If he’s not at the track, he’s at the shop.
Period. I’m a young guy with a new family and I decided that as much as
I love racing I wasn’t ready to sacrifice all of my time with my family.
The situation with Bob came along and it seemed a perfect fit for me.”

Benza, a bridge builder by trade, has raced part-time with his wife and
three daughters for the last several seasons. His former crew chief,
Enax, is his brother-in-law. After buying a state-of-the-art transporter
and two new Pontiac Grand Ams (a new model from Don Ness is in the
finishing stages of production) he was looking for a way to step his
program up without committing an abundance of his time. Wagner was the
answer.

“I’ve felt for some time now that we had a piece of the puzzle missing,”
Benza said. “He’s it. He’s an experienced crew chief who can make the
right calls. He’s extremely confident and loyal and will fit right in to
the fabric of this team.

“Our biggest problem is we haven’t had someone day-to-day working on
this program. Andy and I can’t put our full focus on the race team the
way Billy can. Plus, his track time and experience will be a big boost
to our effort. When you combine his knowledge with the lifetime of
experience Andy, Tom [Vollbrecht] and I have, we should be able to have
some fun.”

The current plan calls for Benza to begin his season in Phoenix. If the
group finds success in the first few events they will run all of the
remaining races on the schedule. So far, they have committed to running
11 national events. Benza will continue to use Frank Iaconio horsepower.
Longtime crewman Vollbrecht will serve as transportation captain.

“One of the most attractive things about this job is the relationship I
have with Bob and the commitment I see in him towards his family,”
Wagner said. “That’s very important to me right now. I’ll have more time
on my hands to spend time at home and at the same time I’ll still be
able to race with a team that has all the necessary ingredients to be
competitive. I’m honored to be working for him.”

--30—

Media note: Photos available on request.