The bond between J.R. Todd and the late Eric Medlen grew a little tighter Wednesday with the announcement that Kevin Poynter is joining Todd’s SKULL Shine Top Fuel team as car chief.
Poynter, who served as Medlen’s Funny Car car chief at John Force Racing, was released so he could work with Todd and Tuttle Motorsports.  The bond between J.R. Todd and the late Eric Medlen grew a little tighter Wednesday with the announcement that Kevin Poynter is joining Todd’s SKULL Shine Top Fuel team as car chief.
Poynter, who served as Medlen’s Funny Car car chief at John Force Racing, was released so he could work with Todd and Tuttle Motorsports. 
 
Johnny West, who held the car chief position with Todd for four races, resigned and moved to Clay Millican’s Top Fuel team.
 
The position changes are effective at the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals, May 4-6, at St. Louis.
 
“Tuttle Motorsports thanks John Force Racing – especially John Medlen (Eric’s dad and crew chief) – for allowing Kevin to join our team,” said team owner Dexter Tuttle.  “We are happy to have him on board. All of us are looking forward to working with him.  We think he is a great addition to our team.”
 
Todd, last year’s NHRA rookie of the year, has two wins this season – five overall – and is third in NHRA POWERade Series points.