Matt Puccia, Crew Chief of the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150

Personal Profile
Birth Date: March 17, 1977
Marital Status: Single
Hometown: Watertown, N.Y.
Residence: Mooresville, NC

Racing has long been a part of the Puccia family. Matt, crew chief of the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150, credits his father with introducing him to the sport. “My grandfather was the first one to really have involvement in racing,” said Puccia. “He got my dad involved at a young age just as my dad did with me. It’s a way of life for the Puccia family, I guess you could say.”

Puccia’s early exposure was to small-block and big-block dirt modifieds at Can-Am Speedway in upstate New York. Puccia spent his spare time working on the cars during the week before heading to the track on the weekends.

Knowing that he wanted to go racing for a living, Puccia wasted little time chasing his dream. The day after he graduated from high school in 1995, he headed to North Carolina and got a job with Ken Schrader Racing. Puccia began working on Schrader’s fleet of race vehicles, ranging from NASCAR Nationwide Series cars to dirt late models.

In late 1998, Puccia made the move to Ultra Motorsports, where he became the truck chief on the No. 2 truck driven by Mike Wallace. Puccia tasted success immediately, as the team won the first race of the 1999 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Puccia continued in that position until halfway through the 2000 season, when the opportunity he’d been seeking presented itself.

Puccia was tabbed to crew chief Ultra Motorsports’ third entry at Indianapolis Raceway Park at just 22 years of age. Jason Leffler qualified fifth and led some laps before being taken out by a lapped truck late in the race. Puccia made a lasting impression in his crew chief debut, enough to be promoted to the position full-time for the Dodge Driver Development Team.

Puccia’s understanding of the trucks saw him spend much of 2004 at the wind tunnel in Detroit, Mich. where he worked on developing a new front nose for the Dodge Ram. He was later sent to the wind tunnel in Germany where he had the opportunity to further develop his project.

In 2005, Puccia joined Roush Fenway Racing. Focusing on aerodynamics and building chassis, it was only a matter of time before Puccia transitioned into the role of crew chief once again. When Roush Fenway expanded to three Craftsman Truck Series teams in 2006, Puccia was tabbed crew chief of the effort. He led the No. 50 team until midway through the 2007 season, when he was paired with Erik Darnell and the No. 99 team.

“We showed some promise towards the end of last year,” said Puccia. “We had a few strong runs. We felt like we experimented a little bit towards the ends on the season in an effort to get ready for 2008. Everyone on the Northern Tool + Equipment team is pretty pumped up. We’re looking forward to a strong 2008 season and contending for the championship.”