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Sprint Cup
CUP: Addington, Penske Part Ways
Veteran crew chief Steve Addington is out at Penske, and the team has issued an apology for Kurt Busch’s behavior…
Steve Addington (Left) spent last season with Kurt Busch (Right) at Penske Racing. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
UPDATED: 5:12 pm ET
Steve Addington, Kurt Busch’s crew chief through a tumultuous year, has left Penske Racing and could be moving to Stewart-Haas Racing next season.
Busch’s season ended miserably Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway when a transmission problem sent him to the garage early in the Ford 400 and eventually resulted in a 34th-place finish. Busch fell three spots in the point standings to 11th.
After parking with the problem, Busch unleashed a profanity-laced off-air tirade at veteran television reporter Jerry Punch before storming off to his hauler.
Addington’s departure has been expected for weeks. It was confirmed Tuesday in a statement released by Penske president Tim Cindric.
“Steve Addington is no longer with our organization,” the statement read. “We appreciate the successes we experienced together and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Addington and his team members bore the brunt of Busch’s frequent outbursts of anger during their time together, although Busch won two races this year and made the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Addington is considered a leading candidate to land a crew chief position at Stewart-Haas Racing, where pit-road leadership for next season remains up in the air despite the fact that driver and co-owner Tony Stewart won the Sprint Cup championship Sunday.
Darian Grubb, Stewart’s crew chief, was told last month that he would not be returning to the organization next season. Stewart would not commit to changing his mind on that score after Grubb led the team to the title Sunday, and there is speculation that Addington might be the No. 14 team’s crew chief next year.
Late Tuesday afternoon, after video of the Busch-Punch encounter went viral, Penske Racing and Busch issued apologies.
“Penske Racing extends its apologies to Dr. Jerry Punch, our media partners and our sponsors and fans for Kurt Busch's inappropriate actions in Homestead on Sunday,” the team statement read. “These actions do not represent Penske Racing and are inconsistent with the company's standards for behavior, respect for others and professionalism. This matter is being reviewed internally with no further comment at this time.”
Later in the day, Busch released this statement:
“Unfortunately, our result in the season-ending race at Homestead on Sunday was not what we had hoped for as a team. In my frustration with the loss of my transmission early in the race, I let my emotions get the better of me. I regret having done this and apologize to the sponsors of Penske Racing, to NASCAR, its fans, to the media and in particular, Dr. Jerry Punch.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Steve Addington, Kurt Busch’s crew chief through a tumultuous year, has left Penske Racing and could be moving to Stewart-Haas Racing next season.
Busch’s season ended miserably Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway when a transmission problem sent him to the garage early in the Ford 400 and eventually resulted in a 34th-place finish. Busch fell three spots in the point standings to 11th.
After parking with the problem, Busch unleashed a profanity-laced off-air tirade at veteran television reporter Jerry Punch before storming off to his hauler.
Addington’s departure has been expected for weeks. It was confirmed Tuesday in a statement released by Penske president Tim Cindric.
“Steve Addington is no longer with our organization,” the statement read. “We appreciate the successes we experienced together and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Addington and his team members bore the brunt of Busch’s frequent outbursts of anger during their time together, although Busch won two races this year and made the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Addington is considered a leading candidate to land a crew chief position at Stewart-Haas Racing, where pit-road leadership for next season remains up in the air despite the fact that driver and co-owner Tony Stewart won the Sprint Cup championship Sunday.
Darian Grubb, Stewart’s crew chief, was told last month that he would not be returning to the organization next season. Stewart would not commit to changing his mind on that score after Grubb led the team to the title Sunday, and there is speculation that Addington might be the No. 14 team’s crew chief next year.
Late Tuesday afternoon, after video of the Busch-Punch encounter went viral, Penske Racing and Busch issued apologies.
“Penske Racing extends its apologies to Dr. Jerry Punch, our media partners and our sponsors and fans for Kurt Busch's inappropriate actions in Homestead on Sunday,” the team statement read. “These actions do not represent Penske Racing and are inconsistent with the company's standards for behavior, respect for others and professionalism. This matter is being reviewed internally with no further comment at this time.”
Later in the day, Busch released this statement:
“Unfortunately, our result in the season-ending race at Homestead on Sunday was not what we had hoped for as a team. In my frustration with the loss of my transmission early in the race, I let my emotions get the better of me. I regret having done this and apologize to the sponsors of Penske Racing, to NASCAR, its fans, to the media and in particular, Dr. Jerry Punch.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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