Pat Tryson, (Left) crew chief for Kurt Busch (Right) is a NASCAR veteran who began his Cup crew chief career in 1997. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Kurt Busch heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend in an excellent frame of mind: He’s had a week off from the grueling NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule and he’s heading to a track where he dominated in the spring.
Busch led 234 of 330 laps in his No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge Charger back in March to score his first and so far only Sprint Cup victory of the season. Despite his lack of visits to victory lane, though, the 2004 series champion has enjoyed a stellar year.
With two races to go until the field is set for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Busch is sixth in points and a virtual lock to make NASCAR’s playoff round for the third time.
Leading the way for his team is steady Pat Tryson, a NASCAR veteran who began his Cup crew chief career with Geoff Bodine in 1997. With Tryson atop the pit box at Roush Fenway Racing, Mark Martin made the Chase for three consecutive seasons from 2004-06.
Following are Tryson’s comments from a Tuesday Dodge teleconference:
Two races left to the Chase, you’re 192 points ahead of 13th position, what is the mindset heading to Atlanta?
We’re going to go there and try and win the race and clinch our spot in the Chase so that we don’t have anything to worry about in Richmond; so that we can try and go up there (Richmond) and get some bonus points there, too.
Do you anticipate the racing being at night for the first time at Atlanta making that much of a difference in the race?
I don’t think that it will be that different from the spring just because the temperature is hot now. When it cools off, it will be like it was in the spring. So, hopefully, it plays in our favor and hopefully the Miller Lite Dodge will be back in victory lane.
Quite a turnaround from the ’08 season. How gratifying is it for you to see the success of the No. 2 team?
It’s been pretty gratifying. A lot of hard work went in from everybody at Penske Racing. Everybody on the No. 2 car has worked hard. The real hard work is just about to get started and hopefully we’ll get a reward for it in the end.
Can you point to somebody on the No. 2 team that people might not know that stands out who has put forth an effort in getting your team in the Chase standings all year long?
I think probably the biggest one for me is Jeffery Thousand, the car chief for me this year. He eases my mind on a lot of things and (there’s) a lot of things that I don’t have to worry about because he’s so experienced. Him coming onboard this year has been a plus for us and has made a big difference.
Can you talk about what some of his traits and specialties are?
He’s the guy who takes care of the car while we’re making decisions and gets all the changes done. He’s one of the few guys in the garage that if you see him and he’s not next to the car, it’s a rarity. He’s always over by the car and it’s his baby all weekend and he doesn’t get far from it.
Can you talk about night racing at Atlanta? What benefits will those have that were at the AMS tire test?
I think that the night race is going to be a lot similar to the spring race just because the temperatures will drop down and be similar. It will start off a lot slicker from baking in the sun.
As far as the guys that did the tire test, there were only about four or five cars down there. Kyle’s (Busch) teammate was one of the teams that did test. … Denny Hamlin’s car. I’m sure Kyle got the information for it. Tony Stewart was there … Jamie McMurray. I think all the major teams had somebody there and I think it will be a great race. Racing under the lights is always fun. It should be a great race for us.
