As Stewart-Haas Racing prepares to expand to a four-car lineup for next year’s Sprint Cup campaign, the team has announced a series of organizational changes to its competition department – chief among them being the hiring of former Michael Waltrip Racing crew chief Chad Johnston to fill the same role for its recuperating driver/co-owner, Tony Stewart.

Johnston completed his tenure at MWR in Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Like his driver, Martin Truex Jr., he too was told by MWR that he was free to look for new employment after the team announced it would drop to two full-time cars in 2014 following the loss of sponsor NAPA; Truex is moving on to Furniture Row Racing to drive its No. 78 car.

Stewart and Johnston worked together briefly back in 2004-2005 at Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series. At that time, Stewart raced a handful of CWTS events for the team, with Johnston serving as race engineer.

Additionally, Daniel Knost will make his debut as a crew chief next season for Kurt Busch’s No. 41 squad after serving as race engineer for the No. 39 of now-departed Ryan Newman. Before going to the No. 39, Knost – who has been with SHR since 2008 – was race engineer for Danica Patrick in an eight-race stretch during the 2012 season.

Other major notes from SHR’s reorganization:

Rodney Childers, who joined SHR last month, will be crew chief for the No. 4 of Kevin Harvick. He most recently was crew chief for the No. 55 MWR team of Brian Vickers, Mark Martin and Michael Waltrip.

Tony Gibson will remain crew chief for Patrick on the No. 10 car.

Greg Zipadelli has been promoted to the role of vice president of competition, where he’ll manage all four Cup squads.

Matt Borland has been named vice president of engineering and will oversee the team’s technical side, as well as various research and development projects. A team release also notes that he’ll shift from being an active crew chief “to that of a mentor, specifically in regard to the crew chief position on the No. 41 Haas Automation team of driver Kurt Busch” – namely, Knost.

In a statement, Stewart said that with the changes, the team is set to transform seamlessly into a bigger operation.

“Obviously, there is a lot of change happening for 2014 as we grow to four teams and bring in Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch,” he said. “But with our new management structure and the crew chiefs we have in place, we’re well positioned to handle whatever challenges come our way.

“Collectively, we have the experience and wherewithal necessary for each of our teams to perform at the highest level possible.”

It’s known as “Carburetor Day” – or in its simplest term, just “Carb Day.”

But the final day of on-track action Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before Sunday’s 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 is so much more.

Especially on NBCSN, which will have wall-to-wall live coverage starting Friday morning.

Here’s how Friday’s schedule breaks down:

11 a.m. ET: Carb Day kicks off with the final practice for Sunday’s Indy 500. The session will last one hour in length.

12 p.m. ET: We’re going racing! Strap in for coverage of the Indy Lights’ Freedom 100 on the famous Brickyard.

1:30 p.m. ET: We’ll have coverage of the annual IndyCar Pit Stop Challenge. Which teams have the best – and most importantly, fastest and accurate – pit crews? Team Penske has won 10 of the last 12, including the last two years edging out Schmidt Peterson Motorsports each time. Who can potentially beat them this year?

3:30 p.m. ET: We’ll have our annual NASCAR America Motorsports Special. Among segments included in the 90-minute show will be:1) 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi will discuss how it used to upset him when people suggested he “backed into” his big win and how he didn’t really feel vindicated until he qualified on the front row for last year’s race.
2) Defending 500 winner Takuma Sato, the first Japanese driver to ever win at Indianapolis, discusses the impact of his big win personally and professionally, particularly back in his native land.
3) An essay by Robin Miller on Stefan Wilson giving up his ride last year to allow Fernando Alonso to race for Andretti Autosport.
4) An essay by Nate Ryan on Danica Patrick as she looks to compete in her final Indy 500 before retiring from professional racing.