Kenny Bruce: Silly season continues for select Cup crew chiefs

By Kenny Bruce - Assistant Managing Editor

Monday, December 07, 2009

Steve Addington worked as Kyle Busch's crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing until he was replaced in October.

David Griffin
NASCAR Scene

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COMMENTARY

A lot of the talk regarding Jimmie Johnson’s four consecutive NASCAR Cup championships also involves crew chief Chad Knaus, which is fitting, since the two have pretty much run roughshod over the competition for the past several years.

Crew chiefs were in the news quite a bit during the closing weeks of the 2009 season, so maybe it’s time to play a little bit of catch-up with some of the familiar, as well as the not-so-familiar guys who sit atop the pit boxes each weekend.

Might as well start at the top with Knaus. Heading into last weekend’s NASCAR Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas, the 38-year-old had yet to sign a contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson fans need not be worried. Knaus says he can’t do what he does, at this level, forever, but forever hasn’t arrived just yet.

“You can only do this for so long,” Knaus said earlier this year. “The desire will probably always be there, but sooner or later, you have to back off.

“Being a crew chief is like living dog years, man. And I’ve been racing a long time. So sooner or later, it’s going to happen.”

While Knaus was helping to guide Johnson to his record-breaking title, Steve Addington was taking stock of his own situation. The former crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch was three races from completing the season when he was replaced by Dave Rogers.

The talk in Las Vegas put Addington with Kyle’s older brother, Kurt, at Penske Racing for 2010.

Kurt Busch was noncommittal regarding the selection of his new crew chief while in Las Vegas but did say Addington was among those being considered as a replacement for Pat Tryson.

The No. 2 team could do a lot worse. Addington led the younger Busch to 12 Cup wins in less than two full seasons and a spot in the 2008 Chase For The Sprint Cup. The JGR team fell eight points short of making this year’s Chase despite winning four races.

Speaking of JGR, when Joey Logano finished 20th in this year’s point standings, it marked the lowest points finish for Greg Zipadelli as a crew chief. When previously paired with former JGR driver Tony Stewart, Zipadelli’s No. 20 team had finished no worse than 11th for 10 consecutive years.

A couple of things worth noting, however: Stewart was 28 when he made the jump to Cup; Logano was 18. And while the youngster was still feeling his way around this season, he did keep the No. 20 team’s win streak alive. Zipadelli’s group has now won at least one race every season for 11 consecutive years. That’s no small feat.

Tryson departs Penske Racing to move to Michael Waltrip Racing where he will work with Martin Truex Jr. Despite seeing his shop time limited in the closing weeks, Tryson still managed to help keep his driver in the thick of the Chase, and the elder Busch wound up with his best points finish (fourth) since winning the Cup title in 2004.

All of which should bode well for Truex heading into next season.

There will be other familiar faces in new places next season as well. Jay Guy, crew chief for Furniture Row Racing and driver Regan Smith, will join Penske and handle the calls for Brad Keselowski; Donnie Wingo’s already getting adjusted to life with the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing team and driver David Ragan. TRG Motorsports, on the other hand, is looking for a replacement for Slugger Labbe as crew chief for Bobby Labonte in the No. 71 Chevrolet.

There may be a break in the NASCAR schedule but only in regards to competition on the track. For every team involved in the sport, the names may sometimes change, but the work continues.