NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Addington Taking Pressure Of New Gig In Stride
Steve Addington will call the shots for reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart in 2012...
Jared Turner  |  Posted January 25, 2012   Charlotte, NC
Steve Addington (Left) confers with driver Tony Stewart (Right) during the recent preseason test at Daytona. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Just call Steve Addington a glutton for punishment.

Or maybe he’s just unafraid of a challenge.

Whatever you want to call the veteran crew chief, this much is certain: Addington has never shied away from pairing up with the most demanding, high-maintenance drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage.

So it was when he worked with Kyle Busch from 2008 to late 2009 at Joe Gibbs Racing.

And so it was again the last two seasons when Addington called the shots for Kyle’s older brother, Kurt, at Penske Racing.

With the 2012 season on the horizon, Addington has now joined forces with arguably the sport’s most high-maintenance driver not named Busch.

That driver is the reigning Sprint Cup champion, Tony Stewart.

Aside from the obvious pressure that Addington faces in taking the reins of the past season’s championship team, Stewart is also the co-owner of Addington’s new employer, Stewart-Haas Racing.

And as Stewart proved in parting ways with 2011 champion crew chief Darian Grubb at the end of last season, a high measure of success isn’t even enough to guarantee job security at SHR.

So while Addington faces the familiar task of pleasing an outspoken and occasionally temperamental driver, this time that driver is his boss and the reigning series champion.

Talk about a guy being under the gun from his first day on the job. But then again, maybe not.

In the wee hours of the morning after winning the 2011 championship, Stewart sent his future crew chief a text message that read, “No pressure, dude.”

That message followed one a couple weeks earlier that simply said, “You’re still our man.”

Both texts came after Stewart had won races and, in the former case, the championship, as well.

“He was reassuring me that I was still his guy,” Addington said. “And that made me feel good.”

Now with Addington officially on board, Stewart is still trying to make sure the 47-year-old feels comfortable.

“We’re just a bunch of low-key, down-to-earth racers, hardcore racers that just want to race. That is the attitude Steve has,” Stewart said on the Sprint Media Tour. “I’m not putting any pressure on him. I’m looking forward to going out and racing with him.

“We both know there is going to be a period of learning each other and just little things. Daytona (Speedweeks), that 10-day period is not going to get it done. It is going to take getting through Phoenix and Vegas and some of those races to really get in tune with each other.”

Steve Addington (Left) spent last season with Kurt Busch (Right) at Penske Racing. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Despite being with a new team, driver and manufacturer in Chevrolet, Addington will be surrounded by familiar faces. They include former fellow Gibbs crew chief Greg Zipadelli, now the director of competition at SHR, and Stewart himself.

The driver and crew chief came to know each other during their time at Gibbs, and have been friends ever since. But 2012 will be their first time as a driver/crew chief tandem.

“Steve is a lot like Darian,” said Stewart, who won five races with Grubb in last year’s Chase. “He may not have all the engineering background that Darian has, but I think he’s got the practical knowledge and is a better fit for me.”

Addington isn’t too worried about calling the shots for the man who also signs his paycheck.

“He (Stewart) said, 'When I get (to the track) there on Friday morning, I work for you all the way through Sunday,'” Addington said. “He said, 'Then, the other part of it I become the owner but from Friday on I work for you, and that’s the way I want you to look at it.' And that’s the way I’m going to approach it is he’s just the driver, and (I’ll) try to ignore his name being on the sign out front.”

If anyone knows how to manage a driver with a fiery personality, it’s Addington. In his last two jobs, the veteran pit boss regularly dealt with a driver – first Kyle, and later Kurt – prone to lose his cool at the drop of a hat, and then take out his feelings on the crew chief.

Such outbursts over the in-car radio were common practice for Kurt Busch the last two seasons, but the 2004 Sprint Cup champion still managed to win two races and make the Chase in each.

Addington, who won 12 races over not even two full seasons with Kyle Busch, has found that the best way to deal with angry drivers is to remain calm and focused.

“If you want to get into a verbal shouting match, you can do that,” he said. “They feel like they can be honest with me and give their opinion and I’m going to soak it in and I’m not going to be on the radio arguing back with them. It doesn’t accomplish anything.”

Now, Addington hopes to accomplish big things with another challenging driver. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.
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