Kevin "Bono" Manion has his work cut out for him in 2005.

In just his first full year as a crew chief, he led Martin Truex, Jr. and the Chance 2 Motorsports team to the NASCAR Busch Series crown. En route, they notched seven poles, six wins and led in almost every statistical category in the series.

This year, he’ll back atop the pit box for the No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team and Martin Truex, Jr. The team returns intact from last year’s crew and will only have one primary sponsor, Bass Pro, instead of the handful the team had last year.

Kevin came to DEI in June of 1997 starting out as a general mechanic with the part-time Busch Series car for Dale Earnhardt Jr. He also helped out the part-time Cup team that entered some races with Steve Park. Soon after, he became the car chief on the No. 1 Chevrolet.

When the team of Chance 2 was formed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt in the fall of 2002, Kevin was their choice for crew chief. In the team’s first outing, he answered the call with a trip to Victory Lane with Dale Jr. behind the wheel. The nickname, Bono, comes from his grade school days because he was tall, skinny and considered boney.

Growing up in Boylston , Mass. , Bono started his career in racing at age 14 helping out Bobby Fuller in the NASCAR Winston Modified Series. Starting out just cleaning the car and doing general mechanics, he worked his way up to tire changer. From 1988-’92, he helped out Chris Woods in Late Model racing at Riverside Park in Agawam, Mass. as a crew chief.

In 1993, Bono became the crew chief, and only full-time employee, at Sheba Racing out of Hudson , Mass. The team fielded a Modified for Jeff Fuller and then Steve Park. In 1995, Tommy Baldwin came on as crew chief and Bono was his right-hand man. Steve missed winning the championship that year by a mere three points.

The next year, Bono headed south to further his racing career beginning as a general mechanic for Larry Hedrick Motorsports with Ricky Craven as the driver and Tommy Baldwin as crew chief. Bono and Tommy not only worked together, but also shared a house. In 1997, Steve moved in with them when he became the Busch Series driver of the No. 3 ACDelco car owned by Dale and Teresa. Steve got Bono in the door at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in June of that year and he’s been with us ever since.

Bono and the Chance 2 team got off to a good start by winning three races in 2003 with Dale Jr. behind the wheel. The team worked with five different drivers that year and had successful runs with each. Martin Truex, Jr. proved he was worthy of full-time ride with the team by finishing second in the last two races that season.

In 2004, Bono and Chance 2 tore through the Busch Series season to capture the crown. This year, they’ll pick right up where they left off in their quest to repeat as champions.

Hometown: Boylston, Mass Born: June 24, 1972 Resides: Mooresville, N.C. Spouse: Tracy Children: Daughter, Avery Hobbies: Hunting and racing Favorite DEI moment: It was the opening day of quail season in 1998 and myself and another guy was working in the shop. Dale came by and took us out to the field that he and his brother Randy hunted them. There were a few others there, too. We hunted and spent the day with Dale. When we were done, he shared some of his home made ice cream. That was a special day. Favorite movie: Smokey and The Bandit