Crew chief Pat Tryson, soon to depart, will be on the sidelines at times this fall, as Penske works on 2010 plans without him

  Pat Tryson: "consumate professional" (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   LOUDON, N.H.
   Crew chief Pat Tryson is having his shop time cut this fall, to keep him out of Penske Racing's planning for 2010, since Tryson will be leaving the Kurt Busch Dodge team at the end of the season and moving to Michael Waltrip's Toyota operation.
   So the first race of the NASCAR championship race has yet to be run, and already it's looking like time to scratch Busch from the running?
   Not so fast, says Walt Czarnecki, who helps Roger Penske run the NASCAR side of Penske Racing. "We're trying to work out a schedule for Pat right now. But our focus is on winning the race today, and on running all 10 races, and Pat will be on the pit box calling the shots for all 10 races and will be an integral part of what we do."
   However…
   This is the situation:
   Last weekend word leaked out that Tryson would be leaving the Penske team.  Busch was not pleased at the timing.
   However Friday here Tryson and Busch appeared buddy-buddy, both vowing to work together in the playoffs. Tryson said Kurt Busch was the reason he moved to the team in 2007, but Tryson insisted Busch was not part of the reason for his leaving, which Tryson said were for unnamed "personal reasons."
   Now though Tryson has been told to cut back on his work at the shop, because the team doesn't want him in on any of its plans for the 2010 season. "We talk a lot about future plans, and we don't include some people in those discussions," Czarnecki said, confirming the cutback.
    And all this won't affect the team's chances of winning the championship?
   "Not at all," Czarnecki said. "Pat is a consummate professional. He's done a great job for this company, and he will continue to do a great job for the company and for Kurt.
   "I was just talking to him this morning, and he's enthusiastic about the chase beginning. We've got a pretty good race car here, and it wouldn't surprise me to see us do reasonably well here…and Pat will be in charge all the way."
   Still Busch and the team are now looking for a new crew chief. And where that might lead is next is unclear.
    Jimmy Fennig, who crewed Busch to the 2004 championship when he was driving Ford's Jack Roush, could be a candidate for the 2010 role at Busch's crew chief, Busch said, depending on whether Fennig remains with Roush or not. Fennig has been working with newcomer David Ragan the past two seasons for Roush.
  

  

  Penske's Walt Czarnecki (C), at Walt Reed Army Medical Center (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)