Jeremy Bullins
Crew Chief, No. 2 Discount Tire/Menards Ford Mustang
Veteran Team Penske crew chief Jeremy Bullins returns to lead the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang team in 2023 with driver Austin Cindric, who begins his second season in the NASCAR Cup Series after posting a stellar rookie campaign in 2022.
The Bullins-Cindric pairing quickly found Victory Lane last season, delivering team owner Roger Penske a trophy on the sport's biggest stage - the Daytona 500. A week after Cindric's memorable first Cup Series win, the No. 2 started on the pole after recording the quickest time in qualifying at Auto Club Speedway.
Bullins, Cindric and the No. 2 Ford team went on to contend in the NCS Playoffs, making it to the Round of 12 before ultimately ending the season with five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes along with a 12th-place finish the in the championship standings - which led to Cindric winning series Rookie of the Year honors.
This season will mark Bullins' 12th campaign with Team Penske and his fourth year at the helm of the No. 2 team. Prior to the beginning of the 2020 NCS season, Bullins and his crew transitioned from Team Penske's No. 12 Ford Mustang to the No. 2 car, then driven by 2012 NCS champion Brad Keselowski. The pairing was a successful one as the duo of Bullins and Keselowski earned five series victories, two trips to the NCS Playoffs and a runner-up finish in the final standings over the course of their last two seasons together.
In his first season atop the No. 2 team pit box in 2020, Bullins and Keselowski produced four NCS victories together and reached the Championship 4 round of the playoffs before finishing second in the final series standings. In 2021, the No. 2 team earned a win at Talladega Superspeedway and produced 10 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes while constructing another solid playoff performance. After leading 331 laps over the course of the season, the Bullins-led team finished sixth in the championship standings.
Growing up in North Carolina, racing was a constant presence to Bullins. His father worked on dirt late model cars in the Piedmont Triad area and Bullins began accompanying his dad to the race shop and 311 Speedway in Madison, N.C., when he was just five years old. As he grew older, Bullins expanded his racing acumen to include World Karting Association go-karts and asphalt late models until he graduated from South Stokes High School in 1995. Bullins then enrolled at North Carolina State University where he earned a mechanical engineering degree.
After college, Bullins joined the historic Wood Brothers Racing team in October 1999 for his first position in the NCS. After working with ST Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and then at Robert Yates Racing, Bullins joined Richard Childress Racing in January 2005 where he helped produce nine NCS wins with drivers Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer over seven seasons as a race engineer.
Bullins joined Team Penske in 2012 to lead the organization's No. 22 NXS team. The team hit its stride midway through the season as Keselowski scored three wins, including the inaugural Indy 250 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 2013, Bullins led the No. 22 team through a historic season, winning 12 races with drivers Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and AJ Allmendinger. Bullins and the team captured the NXS owners' title in fine style, racking up 20 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes in addition to three poles. Bullins and the No. 22 team won their second consecutive NXS owners' championship in 2014 on the strength of six wins (five by Keselowski and one with Blaney). Bullins also served as crew chief for Blaney's first two NCS starts at Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
In 2015, Team Penske and Wood Brothers Racing formed a technical alliance. Blaney was tapped as the driver for the team's partial schedule with Bullins rejoining the team as crew chief. The Wood Brothers expanded to a full-season campaign in 2016 and Blaney finished second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.
Bullins and Blaney enjoyed a breakout season in 2017 culminating with the best season finish since 1995 for NASCAR's oldest running team. Blaney captured his first career NCS victory with a thrilling win at Pocono Raceway for the Wood Brothers' 99th all-time win. The victory earned the team a spot in the NCS Playoffs and they finished ninth in the final standings.
Bullins transitioned back to Team Penske in 2018 as the organization fielded a third full-season NCS car with Blaney. The team won the inaugural Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which allowed the team to advance to the Round of 12 in the NCS Playoffs and finish 10th in the final standings. The following year in 2019, Bullins, Blaney and the No. 12 team scored the win at Talladega and finished seventh in the title chase.
Bullins and his wife Tina reside in China Grove, N.C.