The item the older got from the younger? A crew chief.
2009 wasn't a great season for either of the Busch brothers when it came to crew chiefs. First Pat Tryson announced his departure from the #2 Miller Lite Dodge driven by Kurt Busch. Tryson's departure announcement just before the Chase for the Sprint Cup was to begin led to much speculation regarding how the team would handle the last 10 races of the season. Even with what many concidered to be a "Lame Duck" crew chief Kurt pulled off a forth place finish in the final standing and earned his second victory of the season at Texas.
Just weeks later Joe Gibbs Racing made the decision to remove Steve Addington as crew chief for the #18 driven by the younger Busch. Addington was replaced by Dave Rogers in a move that had many people talking. Although Addington helped Kyle Busch to win 12 races over the 2008 and 2009 season Busch poor finish in the standings and lack of consistency led to this change.
On Monday Penske Racing announced that Addington had been chosen to replace Tryson as the crew chief for Kurt Busch's team in 2010. When making the annoucement Roger Penske said, "Steve Addington has a proven track record of success in NASCAR and we are excited to welcome him to Penske Racing. By adding Steve to the winning Miller Lite team and working closely with Kurt, we believe we have the combination in place to compete for a championship as we head into the 2010 season."
Will Addington's success with Kyle translate to success with Kurt or will fans of the older brother be wishing Penske had chosen another to replace Tyson? What's your opinion?
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author an may not reflect those of the site or its other writers
Image via Getty Images for NASCAR
Great blog Katy. I think Addington and Kurt could be a winning combination. Addington has shown that he can work with a tempermental driver (Kyle). I think he can handle what Kurt may have to throw at him. The pairing is either going to be extremely successful or very disappointing. I'm leaning toward the first option, but that's just my opinion. I'm really excited to see how they work together and what they can accomplish. I think hiring Addington was a good move on Penske's part; let's see how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteSteve Addington didn't have a choice, he was put in a corner so to say, meaning he was doing everything he could for the cup team, while Kyle weren't in 2009 Now that Kyle won the 09 Nationwide championship, he (kyle) will focus more of his time & energy with the cup team in 2010 So the fact is right there for all to see, Addington never had a 100% of Kyle's time & energy to combine with the Cup team for the Championship. Kurt on the other hand will be giving his new crew chief his all, & trust me, those two combined will have something in common like no other driver & crew chief , they both will want to beat kyle with a vengeance.
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt all of Kyle's attention will be on the cup team this year. No he's not running for the title again but with the new truck series team he's going to be putting a lot of time and energy into that.
ReplyDelete@Katy well, i did consider that kyle is starting a truck team, thats why i only said "more" of his time, not "all" of his time, Kurt will be more focussed on Cup than kyle will (again) & I'm sure Addington pounced on that opportunity like a nascar driver getting in a good draft by going with Kurt.& Like the last two seasons that we watched kyle try to outshine jr, Addington will be trying to outshine kyle, if he can =]
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