One of the key storylines coming into the Chase is how the impending departure of crew chief Pat Tryson will affect Kurt Busch's title chances. Although Urt has faded of late, he began the season as a strong top-4 contender, and his win at Atlanta at March was the most dominant single-race performance by any driver this season.
But news broke in the last few days that Tryson will be departing the No. 2 team for Michael Waltrip Racing to head up the new Martin Truex Jr. team. This is precisely analogous to a playoff coach striking a deal with a new team before he's done with his current playoff run, and it understandably sets the old team off. KuBu openly questioned Tryson's timing in announcing the decision, and frankly, I've got to do the same. This couldn't have waited another couple months?
To be fair to Tryson, Kurt has not been, shall we say, Polly Pureheart when it comes to his racing attitude. Most recently, he and team owner Roger Penske went at it in Martinsville, and you can imagine that if that's the public image, there might just be some more heated words behind the scenes. So perhaps an opportunity to get a fresh start with a new team and a new contract was just too much to ignore.
It's worth noting that expecting Tryson to mail in the Chase is not fair to him, though. After all, the guy's got his own rep to think of, and what better way to establish his cred than as the guy who took Kurt Busch to his second championship?
Still, this marks the breakup of the only other team besides Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson that's been together throughout the entire Chase playoff format. So what's your take? Will this have an effect on Kurt's chances, or is Tryson gettin' while the gettin's good?
No comments:
Post a Comment