A new spotter will work with two Richard Childress Racing drivers at Michigan International Speedway in the wake of a suspension issued by NASCAR.
The sanctioning body suspended Brandon Benesch, the full-time spotter for Austin Dillon and Jesse Love, on Wednesday. Benesch will miss the next three points-paying races as a consequence of his yelling "wreck him" to Dillon Sunday night at Richmond Raceway. The communication took place as Dillon spun Joey Logano and then hooked Denny Hamlin.
According to the NASCAR Roster Portal, Richard Childress Racing will turn to veteran spotter Brett Griffin at Michigan. He will guide Love in the Xfinity race and then he will guide Dillon during the Cup race.
The Roster Portal does not have entries for either driver for Daytona and Darlington, the two races that close out Benesch's suspension.
Griffin, a co-host of the Dirty Mo Media podcast "Door, Bumper, Clear," is no stranger to the organization. He has worked with multiple drivers this season as RCR has fielded a third Cup entry in select races.
Griffin worked with Will Brown as the Supercars driver made his Cup debut at Sonoma Raceway. He worked with Austin Hill at Texas Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, and the streets of Chicago. Griffin's most recent race as a spotter was the Brickyard 400 when he guided Ty Dillon.
Along with his recent work at RCR, Griffin has spent decades in the sport while guiding multiple drivers on and off the track.
Griffin has been a spotter for such drivers as Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Elliott Sadler, Justin Haley, and Daniel Hemric. He has also made an impact behind the scenes with driver management, marketing, and sponsor negotiations.
The next challenge will be helping Love deliver a strong finish at a track where he has no Xfinity Series starts. This process will be slightly easier considering that Love won his lone ARCA Menards Series start at Michigan last season.
One day after guiding Love, Griffin will partner with Dillon, a driver who kept his controversial win at Richmond but lost his playoff eligibility as part of NASCAR's penalties.
Unlike Love, Dillon has extensive experience at Michigan. He has made 20 Cup starts at the track and posted two top-five finishes and five top-10s. His best finishes at the two-mile track were fourth in 2015 and 2018.