Hendrick Motorsports continued revamping its competition department by hiring Alba Colon, who had been a General Motors engineer and auto racing program manager, to oversee the team’s competition systems group.
The team announced Tuesday that she will join the organization later this month and report to Jeff Andrews, vice president of competition.
Hendrick Motorsports stated in a release that Colon will work to enhance capabilities that support at-track competition, which include simulation programs, analytics platforms, data acquisition and communication technologies and at-track research and development. The position was previously held by Darian Grubb, who has moved into the crew chief role for rookie William Byron.
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Colon had been with GM since 1994, joining as a data acquisition engineer for its Oval Track Group, covering NASCAR’s three national series. She later moved to GM’s NHRA program and was placed in charge of its drag racing programs in 2000. Colon became Chevrolet Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series program manager in 2001, a position she held until making this move.
“Alba Colon was a key contributor to Chevrolet’s racing success for over two decades, including 14 NASCAR Cup Manufacturers’ Championships as our program manager in the series,’' a statement from Chevrolet Motorsports read. “We thank Alba for all of her contributions to Chevrolet Motorsports.”
In June, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Doug Duchardt, who had been the organization’s general manager since 2005, was leaving at the end of the month.
Duchardt joined Chip Ganassi Racing last week to be that organization’s chief operating officer.
Hendrick Motorsports announced in June that it did not plan to fill Duchardt’s role and that his responsibilities would be divided among many individuals.
In August, Hendrick Motorsports announced it had elevated eight senior leaders into new positions. Included in the moves was promoting Ken Howes from vice president of competition to vice president and chief of staff and Andrews from director of engine operations to vice president of competition. Grubb was elevated to director of competition systems at that time but was named about a month later to be Kasey Kahne’s crew chief the rest of the season before moving into that role with Byron.
Hendrick Motorsports is coming off a season where it won four races -- its fewest total since 2000 -- and won only four stages. To compare, Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., the reigning Cup champion, won eight races and 19 stages last season.
Hendrick Motorsports’ victory total has declined each of the past four seasons, going from 13 wins in 2014 to nine victories in 2015 to five wins in 2016 and four last season.
Only one of the organization’s four drivers -- seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson -- has won a Cup race. He’s joined by Byron, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman.
