Nascar: Addington's keeping it on the family

By Jim Utter

McClatchy Newspapers

Steve Addington has seen the best of both Busch brothers.

  He served as Kyle Busch’s crew chief for 12 Sprint Cup victories at Joe Gibbs Racing before 

being let go prior to the end of last season. This season, Addington moved to Penske Racing, where he has served as Kurt Busch’s crew chief. So far the duo has one Cup win and a victory in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Addington also has seen the side of Kyle Busch many saw Saturday night: Angry at his teammate Denny Hamlin, Kyle drove his car into the garage, parked it on lift-gate of Hamlin’s hauler, and waited to talk to him after the race.

Following Saturday night’s all-star win, Addington talked about working for both Busch brothers and what he thinks about the start of his tenure with Kurt Busch.

Steve Addington has seen the best of both Busch brothers.

  
He served as Kyle Busch’s crew chief for 12 Sprint Cup victories at Joe Gibbs Racing before 

being let go prior to the end of last season. This season, Addington moved to Penske Racing, where he has served as Kurt Busch’s crew chief. So far the duo has one Cup win and a victory in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Addington also has seen the side of Kyle Busch many saw Saturday night: Angry at his teammate Denny Hamlin, Kyle drove his car into the garage, parked it on lift-gate of Hamlin’s hauler, and waited to talk to him after the race.

Following Saturday night’s all-star win, Addington talked about working for both Busch brothers and what he thinks about the start of his tenure with Kurt Busch.

Q: You’re familiar with the guy who stood outside the hauler talking to his teammate, said he was ready to kill Denny Hamlin. The guy you got now seems a little more calm and mature than that. 

Addington: Well, you know, Kyle has his own personality. That’s just Kyle. I don’t know what would change him or anything like that. I love the kid to death. Had a lot of success with Kyle. He has his moments, you know. That’s the way it is with him. I think that’s just, you guys have got to get used to it. He’s trying. I know he’s trying and trying hard to get to where he stays a lot calmer. 

I think on the race track he’s done an excellent job this year of coming a long ways. I was in the position of hoping that I would be the one working for him when he got to that point but it didn’t work out. But I’m really happy where I’m at right now with the guy that drives the car that I work on now. 

I think the biggest difference is, you know, being mature and being through the up-and-down seasons, having the success, haven’t been so successful, had a couple years that weren’t so great, then had a good 2009. That’s what we’re trying to better — what Kurt Busch accomplished in 2009. 

Q: You said a win like Saturday really helps build team confidence. Where did you feel you were at coming into the weekend? 

Addington: We’ve been pretty inconsistent. We either are feast or famine. It’s been top five or we’ve been 18th to 20th. That’s not what wins championships. It’s being consistent. That’s what we’ve got to get in our race cars. The big thing is bringing the same chassis style that we run good on every single week. 

So we’ve just got to get those cars built and implemented in the system and bring it every week. We don’t need to change anything until we get more consistent and how we run at the race track.

Q: We’ve heard you and others at Penske say you feel like Kurt Busch is underrated.  

Addington: I don’t think he’s as flamboyant as some people as far as out grabbing media attention. I think that’s one of the reasons that me and him get along so great and it’s working really well. We’re here to work on race cars. That’s what we’re here for, to try to win races week in, week out. 

We do that. We get back behind the scenes. We’re in the lounge two or three hours after practice talking.  He has taught me a lot about how to respect a driver that is just truly focused on what the team and what cars he’s driving, that he wants to just focus on that and work on that, make this programme better. He’s worried about the No. 2 car, the No. 2 car only. The talent that that guy’s got is unbelievable. I hope we can win enough races to where he does get the respect that he deserves. n

Q: You’re familiar with the guy who stood outside the hauler talking to his teammate, said he was ready to kill Denny Hamlin. The guy you got now seems a little more calm and mature than that. 

Addington: Well, you know, Kyle has his own personality. That’s just Kyle. I don’t know what would change him or anything like that. I love the kid to death. Had a lot of success with Kyle. He has his moments, you know. That’s the way it is with him. I think that’s just, you guys have got to get used to it. He’s trying. I know he’s trying and trying hard to get to where he stays a lot calmer. 

I think on the race track he’s done an excellent job this year of coming a long ways. I was in the position of hoping that I would be the one working for him when he got to that point but it didn’t work out. But I’m really happy where I’m at right now with the guy that drives the car that I work on now. 

I think the biggest difference is, you know, being mature and being through the up-and-down seasons, having the success, haven’t been so successful, had a couple years that weren’t so great, then had a good 2009. That’s what we’re trying to better — what Kurt Busch accomplished in 2009. 

Q: You said a win like Saturday really helps build team confidence. Where did you feel you were at coming into the weekend? 

Addington: We’ve been pretty inconsistent. We either are feast or famine. It’s been top five or we’ve been 18th to 20th. That’s not what wins championships. It’s being consistent. That’s what we’ve got to get in our race cars. The big thing is bringing the same chassis style that we run good on every single week. 

So we’ve just got to get those cars built and implemented in the system and bring it every week. We don’t need to change anything until we get more consistent and how we run at the race track.

Q: We’ve heard you and others at Penske say you feel like Kurt Busch is underrated.  

Addington: I don’t think he’s as flamboyant as some people as far as out grabbing media attention. I think that’s one of the reasons that me and him get along so great and it’s working really well. We’re here to work on race cars. That’s what we’re here for, to try to win races week in, week out. 

We do that. We get back behind the scenes. We’re in the lounge two or three hours after practice talking.  He has taught me a lot about how to respect a driver that is just truly focused on what the team and what cars he’s driving, that he wants to just focus on that and work on that, make this programme better. He’s worried about the No. 2 car, the No. 2 car only. The talent that that guy’s got is unbelievable. I hope we can win enough races to where he does get the respect that he deserves.