NASCAR announced that Robin Pemberton will leave his role as senior vice president of competition at the end of 2015.
No replacement was announced. Multiple sources and reports state that Scott Miller, who had been executive vice president of competition at Michael Waltrip Racing, has replaced Pemberton.
“Robin has left an indelible mark on the sport while at NASCAR,” said NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton said in a statement. “He joined us at a critical time and very quickly gave our highly visible competition group the credibility and confidence it needed to be successful with the industry. He traded a successful career as a competitor to help lead the sport for 12 seasons. We’re extremely grateful for his many contributions.”
Pemberton had been with NASCAR since August 2004. He has overseen competition during that period. He might be best recalled for uttering the phrase “Boys, have at it” before the 2010 season to describe NASCAR’s approach to allowing competitors more freedom to police each other.
NASCAR noted in its release that among the largest undertakings under Pemberton’s time with the organization was the launch of the Generation 6 car in the Sprint Cup Series in 2013.
Before joining the sanctioning body, Pemberton was a crew chief from 1985-2001 and won 23 races. He scored victories with Mark Martin, Kyle Petty and Rusty Wallace. Pemberton won 15 races with Wallace.