Dumped Tryson finds new home
The former Roush Racing chief has teamed up
with Kurt Busch.
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Pat Tryson was down in the dumps after he was fired by Roush Racing after barely half a season, leaving the veteran crew chief wondering when he’d ever get another shot to lead a team to a championship.
He didn’t have to wait long.
No sooner had Tryson been unceremoniously dumped as Greg Biffle’s crew chief than he received calls from almost every other team in the garage. After only a day or so of unemployment, Tryson went from worry to relief: He would get his second chance, he just had to choose the right team.
Enter Kurt Busch.
The former Nextel Cup champion was on his second crew chief of the season, one who had told him he wasn’t interested in the full-time job.
Points lost
Busch was out of a spot for the Chase for the Nextel Cup because of a hefty points penalty and a list of races where he blew an opportunity to run out in front.
“We had to get the right guy on top of the pit box,” Busch said.
He found him in late June when Penske Racing hired Tryson to jolt the team back into Cup contention.
So far, the combination has revitalized Busch and made him a contender again with three top-10s in the last four races, a win at Pocono Raceway and a spot in the top 12 in the points standings.
If Tryson and Busch can keep their hot streak going over the final five races of the 26-race regular season and hold off Dale Earnhardt Jr., that spot in the Chase will be secured.
“I’m going to do everything I can to make it and I know Kurt will,” Tryson said. “It doesn’t matter who we bump out as long as we get in.”
Former connection
Perhaps familiarity has played a role in their resurgence. Busch and Tryson were at Roush Racing together when Busch drove the No. 97 Ford and Tryson was crew chief for Mark Martin’s team.
Tryson — who is originally from Malvern, Pa. — put Martin into the Chase the past two seasons and Busch made it the first two years of NASCAR’s revamped championship system, but failed to qualify last season.
Tryson hooked on with Biffle at Roush this season, the fallout of a disappointing 2006 season for the driver. But with Biffle floundering at 16th in the points standings and with only one top-five finish, Tryson was dumped in May. Biffle has said Tryson was fired against the driver’s wishes.
“You’re working real hard trying to get things better and all of a sudden it doesn’t work out,” Tryson said. “You’re at a pretty low point. The fortunate part for me was when I left, there was a lot of interest and a lot of good people who called. I think I made the right decision for me.”
Interim help
Busch was reeling from the loss of crew chief Roy McCauley, who is on leave as he tends to his ailing wife. Troy Raker took the job on an interim basis, but told Busch he had no interest in keeping the job for the rest of the season.
Busch said he believed McCauley was the right man for the job and tried to persuade him to stay on the pit box. When McCauley declined, Busch targeted Tryson to turn his season around.
“He’s a big-picture kind of a guy,” Busch said. “In the past, it might have been, ‘OK, we failed this weekend, let’s go try again next weekend,’ and we didn’t get it. With Pat, it just seems like a long-term program.”
Busch was knocked out of his spot in the Chase after a points penalty stemming from his reckless driving at Dover plummeted him to 17th in the standings. With Tryson calling the shots, Busch surged back to 13th entering the Pennsylvania 500 and qualified second.
Dominant
The 2004 series champion turned in the most dominant performance ever on the triangular 21⁄2-mile track, leading 175 of 200 laps and snapping a 51-race winless drought. He nudged his way into the top 12 and turned a 13-point deficit behind Junior into a seven-point edge.
It was Busch’s first win since March 26, 2006, at Bristol.
“You slip up just a little bit in the top 10 and you find yourself on the outside looking in,” Busch said. “I’ve definitely put on a different thinking cap since Dover. That situation has reminded me of what I can do in the race car and what I better do.”
Now Tryson and Busch are poised to qualify for the Chase and race for the championship. Having a shot at a title that seemed out of reach for both of them only six races ago has been a huge confidence boost, and showed Tryson that somehow everything really would work out for the best.
“The working relationship is there for me and kind of a like a perfect fit so far,” Tryson said. “Hopefully it stays that way.”