Kurt Busch's Take: Awkward dealing with crew chief barred from the shop, during championship chase

   Crew chief Pat Tryson (L) and Kurt Busch worked hard to make it to the championship playoffs....and is car owner Roger Penske making a mistake now by barring Tryson from the shop? Certainly can't help team chemistry. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   So what to make of Roger Penske's decision to bar crew chief Pat Tryson from the Dodge team shop during the week except for Tuesday's weekly debriefing?
   Strange.
   Awkward.
   To say the least.
   But Kurt Busch insists the team will make the best of it.
   "I don't see it bringing, up any issues," Busch says.
    "Pat is still there on race weekend, and being the leader will definitely keep the continuity together Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
    "With him just showing up Tuesdays….crew guys are off on Monday, so everybody is off on Monday.
    "Tuesday -- he was there this morning. We had the driver debrief, and business was usual. It felt great.
    "Pat sitting down with other leaders of our team to go over the plan for this next week was business as usual, and that's great.
    "So Wednesday is really going to be the day that he'll be gone. Everybody should have a game plan put together behind the scenes to cover their work.
     "And Thursdays are considered travel days.
      "So really it's just one day, in my mind, out of the week that he'll be able to rest himself and spend time with his daughter and family, and come to the race track ready to rip."
     However barring the crew chief from the shop, well, it's not quite the smoothest way to run a race team, and it would almost seem a hint for Tryson to move on, though he and Busch and team executives insist they'll all finish out the season together.
   "The concern on the management side is the development for 2010," Busch says of the request that Tryson skip work except for Tuesdays.
    "I can understand that. But at the same time, the present is now, and we need to continue working as a group together."
    In fact Busch himself doesn't seem very pleased with the arrangement: "A tough situation. We're making the best of it.
    "This type of format definitely keeps you on your toes, and sometimes that can be the best thing when you're heading down the stretch run."
     Hardly a way to keep up team morale and chemistry in the middle of a championship run, however.
     And the next crew chief?
    Well, that's going to be awkward too. Hiring someone to take the job, while Tryson is still running the team…..
    Timing?
    "Penske Racing is interviewing different candidates," Busch says. "I don't think that we'll see anything come up in the next few weeks as far as results."
    Busch himself last weekend mentioned former crew chief Jimmy Fennig, currently running one of Jack Roush's teams, as someone he'd be interested in having. Roush himself hasn't weighed in on that yet. Fennig is running David Ragan's team.