Brian Wilson
Crew Chief, No. 2 Discount Tire/Menards/Freightliner/Autotrader/Snap-on/Keystone Light Ford Mustang
Brian Wilson, who is in his 21st season with Team Penske in 2024 and is the longest-tenured active road crew member in the organization, returns as crew chief of the No. 2 Ford Mustang team. He was reunited with driver Austin Cindric late in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) season when he took the reigns of the team.
The Wilson-Cindric duo proved to be a successful pairing during their tenure together in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, claiming 13 wins, the 2020 drivers’ championship and the 2021 owners’ title.
Prior to rejoining the No. 2 Ford team for the final 10 races of 2023, Wilson served as crew chief of the famed No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford Mustang with driver Harrison Burton. The 2022 season was a year of firsts for the crew chief-driver combination as Wilson embarked on his first season as a Cup Series crew chief and Burton competed in his rookie season in NASCAR’s premier series.
Before moving up to the NCS as a crew chief, Wilson spent three seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) as crew chief of Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford with Cindric. During their tenure together, the duo experienced immense success, including series title runs in 2020 and 2021.
In 2021, The No. 22 team picked up right where it left off in 2020 – victory lane. Cindric won the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway and the team went on to capture four more race wins, 22 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes while leading 1,150 laps and producing a series-high 13 stage wins. The Cindric-Wilson pairing enjoyed a memorable run that culminated with the NXS owners’ championship and a runner-up effort in the drivers’ championship standings.
Wilson and Cindric combined to produce a season for the ages in 2020 as the No. 22 team recorded six series victories along with 19 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes en route to the 2020 NXS championship. The performance marked Wilson's first title as a crew chief.
The championship seeds were sewn for the No. 22 team during the 2019 season when the Wilson-Cindric tandem produced two victories, four poles, 14 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes in 33 starts. As Cindric raced into the NXS Playoffs, Wilson helped guide the team to a sixth-place finish in the final series standings.
During the 2018 NXS season, Wilson forged a bond with Cindric as the No. 22 Ford won three series poles and scored six top-five finishes along with nine top-10 results in 16 starts. Wilson also led the team to six race victories that season with drivers Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney all making appearances in victory lane.
Prior to becoming a crew chief on Team Penske’s NXS program, Wilson spent five consecutive seasons as the race engineer for the No. 2 Team Penske Ford in the NCS. During his time as a race engineer, Wilson played an invaluable role in helping the organization reach the highest levels of the sport. Wilson engineered then-driver Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 team to the 2012 NCS title and also helped the No. 22 team and Keselowski win the 2010 NXS crown.
A second-generation race engineer, Wilson is a native of Detroit, Michigan. He grew up around racing and began competing in go-karts at age eight. His father, Steve, was also a racer and in 1995 served as a race engineer on the No. 33 Skoal Bandit car.
Wilson started working part-time at Frank Kimmel's championship-winning ARCA team while attending North Carolina State University. After receiving his degree in mechanical engineering, Wilson joined Kimmel's operation full-time as the team's shock specialist. Wilson's father, who retired from engine research and development at Richard Childress Racing, connected his son with Team Penske in 2004. Wilson worked on the No. 77 car before joining the No. 2 team as a shock specialist in 2006 before being named race engineer prior to the start of the 2007 season.
In 2009, the NC State University graduate transitioned to the No. 12 car with David Stremme behind the wheel and helped the team earn 11 top-20 finishes along with eight top-15 starting spots.
Wilson teamed with crew chief Paul Wolfe in 2010 to give the newly formed No. 22 team some veteran leadership during its first season in the NXS. Wilson, Wolfe and the team built fast racecars that Keselowski powered to the 2010 series championship, the first NASCAR title for Team Penske. Wilson joined the No. 2 NCS team in 2011 as Wolfe was named crew chief.
The combination once again proved to be successful, this time on NASCAR's biggest stage. Producing three wins and five top-five finishes during the summer months, the No. 2 qualified for the 2011 NCS Playoffs and finished fifth in the final series standings. An even brighter horizon dawned in 2012 as the No. 2 team won five races – including two valuable triumphs during the playoffs – and captured Roger Penske’s first NCS title.
Wilson resides in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife Lindsey and their daughter Finley.