Penske Needs to Sign Addington Pronto
If the rumors and various media reports over the last couple days are true, Steve Addington won’t be unemployed for much longer.
The two hottest reports have Kyle Busch’s former crew chief heading to Penske Racing to either replace the departing Pat Tryson (headed to Michael Waltrip Racing) as Kurt Busch’s crew chief, or perhaps becoming crew chief for another young driver, Brad Keselowski (with his designated crew chief, Roy McCauley, likely shifting back to Kurt Busch’s camp, where he preceded Tryson’s tenure).
If I were Roger Penske, I’d snap up Addington in a heartbeat. And don’t be surprised if The Captain does exactly that.
The advantages to having Addington are numerous. That’s why I can’t understand why Joe and J.D. Gibbs were so quick to let Addington go. The laid-back Addington led the younger Busch brother to 12 Sprint Cup wins in less than two seasons.
Some crew chiefs don’t even have that kind of track record with their driver in 10 years – if they last that long (which isn’t likely) – let alone less than two years.
But when Kyle’s performance began to slip heading towards the Chase this year – which he ultimately missed qualifying for – Addington became the fall guy. I mean, guys on Death Row get longer time for things like reprieves, appeals or bids for clemency than Addington was given to try and turn things around.
As KyBusch slipped, the finger of blame fell on and pointed directly at Addington, even though he was still having crew members build cars the same way they had done during Kyle’s quest towards those dozen wins. Nor was Addington suddenly calling races poorly or had a strange change in strategy.
And Kyle didn’t seem to have any sudden problems relating to Addington. In fact, he said he wanted him to remain as his crew chief.
The Gibbs’, obviously, felt otherwise.
I’m sorry, but the Steve Addington at the beginning of the 2008 season, when he first was given the task to ride herd over the younger Busch sibling, is the same Steve Addington today. But no sooner did Kyle start to slip in performance, the Gibbs’ pushed the panic button and Addington was relieved of his duties in favor of Busch’s Nationwide Series crew chief, Dave Rogers.
Which brings me back to why Addington would be a perfect fit for either Kurt Busch or Keselowski. While he could certainly help “Kes” develop into a successful Cup driver, I still think Addington would be a better fit with Kurt.
Addington has a laid-back personality that would mesh well with Kurt’s persona. Being the older Busch brother, Kurt has matured over the years and isn’t as fiery or overt with his emotions both in the race car or in the infield after conflict arises as his younger brother has been (although, to be fair, Kyle is getting better at that, as well).
Addington is also a technical whiz. He knows how to not only build fast race cars, he also knows how to get the most out of the crew that works under him, both at the shop and on race weekend. With Penske’s resources rivaling Gibbs’ resources, Addington could wind up being the one missing link that Kurt has needed to earn his second Sprint Cup championship – and what would be Penske’s first Cup title.
But perhaps the best part of Addington is his open-minded demeanor: a willingness to give his driver equal input into making decisions, as opposed to some crew chiefs that essentially serve as dictators over their drivers. Addington is not that way at all. He was VERY liberal in letting Kyle express his thoughts about not only what was right and wrong with his race car, but also in formulating strategy – particularly late in races, when the event is ultimately won or lost.
If Addington was guilty of anything, maybe it was letting Kyle have more say than he should have, particularly near the end of races.
While Kyle is arguably a better racer than Kurt, Kurt is arguably more technologically savvy than his younger ‘bro. That, combined with Addington’s talent and ability, would mesh quite well.
In fact, I’m willing to go out on a limb right now and say that for as much as Tryson did to get Kurt Busch to a fourth-place finish in the 2009 final Cup standings, the addition of Addington into the Penske camp may very well help Kurt to a top-three finish next season, if not outright winning the championship and finally stopping Jimmie Johnson’s bid for a five-peat.
Frankly, unless there was some serious problem that hasn’t been brought to light, the Gibbs’ were foolish to let Addington go. I’m hoping Penske is smart enough to snatch Addington up in the next few days and show the Gibbs’ who the real turkey was this week.
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