Steve Addington Tony Stewart's new crew chief

This could turn out to be THE dumbest move in NASCAR history.

We'll find out if Steve has what it takes. If Steve fails to do well in the chase in his first 2 years with Tony, this could be his last CC job with a top team.

It's going to be interesting to watch Roger try and get Kurt a CC. I doubt any top guys would come on board, unless it's out of desperation. Roger probably takes the easy and cheap way and gives Kurt Travis Geisler.
 
dannynascar said:
This came as a shock! Why did they let DG go?
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In my opinion Darian did'nt get it done in the regular season, I'm not sure why it's a shock the move was announced several weeks ago?

Good Luck to Steve!
 
dannynascar said:
This came as a shock! Why did they let DG go?
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Tony let Grubb know before the chase started that he would be trying someone new . At the time it was likely the right call . Now Tony would
probably like to keep Grubb in the organization somewhere but that would be up to Grubb.
 
Keep in mind Tony Stewart did'nt turn his "Regular Season" funk around untill the 14 team started leaning heavily on Ryan Newmans crewcheif Tony Gibson for set-up help and some strategy inputs.
So that leaves to question did darian really have that much input in decision making AFTER Tony said he was letting him go ( fall Charlotte ) and for the rest of the Chase?
Maybe there's an unsung Hero in Tonys Chase improvement?

Just keepin ya Thinkin!
 
i like tony and addington so i hope this works out well. one things for sure, he's been tempered well to work with tony. can't be any worse than kyle and kurt.
 
MOEJOE said:
What kind of gig? Engineer on the 88?
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I think he will either be CC on the 48 or 88....this will happen either by Hendrick "shaking things up again" and putting Chad on the 88...OR if Chad moves on to bigger and better things....
 
Gordon_Fan24 said:
I think he will either be CC on the 48 or 88....this will happen either by Hendrick "shaking things up again" and putting Chad on the 88...OR if Chad moves on to bigger and better things....
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Rick stated that there will be no CC changes this year to the 48, 88 or 24.
 
Gordon_Fan24 said:
I think he will either be CC on the 48 or 88....this will happen either by Hendrick "shaking things up again" and putting Chad on the 88...OR if Chad moves on to bigger and better things....
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http://www.nascar.com/news/111128/dgrubb-rhendrick-door-open-for-return/index.html

Hendrick said he and Grubb have talked, but that Hendrick does not currently have a crew chief position available. An engineering role, though, is there if Grubb wants it.

I suppose the key word there is "currently".

Then again, remember when Hendrick said "there's no more room at the inn", about Earnhardt driving for HMS?
 
dannynascar said:
This came as a shock! Why did they let DG go?
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When this was first mentioned a few weeks back that Grubb was being released I was surprised as heck too. First, because we were hearing about it in the midst of the Chase and second because Tony was becoming a legitimate contender for the championship. Then I started looking @ some numbers..... 13,7,2,19,13,34,12,17,9,7,29,17,8,21,7,39,11,12,2,6,11,27,29,28,3, & 7. Probably one of the most inconsistent runs to the championship that we've ever seen. Tony would have been completely out of the championship hunt after the first 26 had it not been for the points reset. He was more than 2 complete races behind the leader @ that point of the season. I'd guess that Tony made up his mind during that stretch that it was time for a change. Given the outcome though, I'd wonder now if he's second guessing himself.
 
If you think that it's fun second guessing Tony's decision now , just think how much fun it is going to be.....this time next year .:p
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
When this was first mentioned a few weeks back that Grubb was being released I was surprised as heck too. First, because we were hearing about it in the midst of the Chase and second because Tony was becoming a legitimate contender for the championship. Then I started looking @ some numbers..... 13,7,2,19,13,34,12,17,9,7,29,17,8,21,7,39,11,12,2,6,11,27,29,28,3, & 7. Probably one of the most inconsistent runs to the championship that we've ever seen. Tony would have been completely out of the championship hunt after the first 26 had it not been for the points reset. He was more than 2 complete races behind the leader @ that point of the season. I'd guess that Tony made up his mind during that stretch that it was time for a change. Given the outcome though, I'd wonder now if he's second guessing himself.
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I can't see how looking at Addington that he would be able to do better. I guess Tony was familiar with him when they were both at Gibbs, even though they were on separate teams. I just don't think that Addington is anything good. I'm no Kyle Busch fan but I think he made him look good. Even Kurt as well. As much as I despise the way the Busch brother are, they do tell the unvarnished truth sometimes.
 
Addington goes from Busch to Busch to Smoke.

Isn't there something quite familiar and somewhat ominous regarding Burning Bushes??
 
I think that is CRAZY on Tony's part. Grubb is good. Did anybody see the determination in Tony in the regular season that they saw in him in the Chase? Maybe he was the problem instead of Darian?
 
Don't judge Addington by what he achieved recently. Remember who his last two drivers were... :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Tony and Steve have a history together. I would have to think that Smoke has a pretty good idea as to what he needs, wouldn't y'all???
 
robbybee said:
Don't judge Addington by what he achieved recently. Remember who his last two drivers were... :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Tony and Steve have a history together. I would have to think that Smoke has a pretty good idea as to what he needs, wouldn't y'all???
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..or Tony lost patience a little early and made a commitment to Addington just before D Grubb got it together. Anyone notice how quickly Steve made his intentions public and got out of Penske? IMO, Tony was locked into Steve as his CC, even IF he had a change of heart.

I can't blame Tony for making the change when he did, but I also think he had second thoughts after the season ended.
 
But again...

Darian Grubb does NOT want to be on the road for two-thirds of the year...
 
Did you guys listen to Tony on the race radio during the Homestead race? That was THE MOST calm, cool, and confident driver I have ever heard on the radio. Even when things went wrong he said "No problem guys, we got this."

If Tony retains that attitude next year Addington is going to feel like he just died and went to Heaven!

I think it could be a win-win for both of them.
 
FenderBumper said:
When did he say that?
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In the post-race interview at Homestead he said that his newborn son and his wife were more important to him than anyting else. While he didn't say "I don't want to travel 45 weeks out of the year" he insinuated as much...
 
robbybee said:
In the post-race interview at Homestead he said that his newborn son and his wife were more important to him than anyting else. While he didn't say "I don't want to travel 45 weeks out of the year" he insinuated as much...
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I noticed that too. Seemed very ODD for a CC that just won a Cup Championship. He didn't even seem that happy. But I guess it's not that odd since he already knew he was out of a job. I give him lots of credit for hanging in there even though he was technically already "out."
 
This is total speculation on my part, but I suspect that Tony was the de facto crew chief for his car during most, if not all, of the chase races. I think Grubb may have been a place marker, with Tony actually calling or at least signing off on the strategy decisions during the chase races.

Again, this is speculation on my part.
 
Eskimeaux said:
This is total speculation on my part, but I suspect that Tony was the de facto crew chief for his car during most, if not all, of the chase races. I think Grubb may have been a place marker, with Tony actually calling or at least signing off on the strategy decisions during the chase races.

Again, this is speculation on my part.
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Tony said he did what his CC told him to.
 
Tony can't drive AND do fuel calculations, and fuel mileage helped him get 3 of those chase wins.
 
FenderBumper said:
Tony can't drive AND do fuel calculations, and fuel mileage helped him get 3 of those chase wins.
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I agree that the driver can't drive And do fuel calculations, but the driver can drive And make fuel strategy decisions based upon fuel calculations done by someone else. By the way, the CC seldom performs fuel calculations during a race, this mundane task is usually delegated to others. The CC is a decision maker, not a calculator.
 
Eskimeaux said:
I agree that the driver can't drive And do fuel calculations, but the driver can drive And make fuel strategy decisions based upon fuel calculations done by someone else. By the way, the CC seldom performs fuel calculations during a race, this mundane task is usually delegated to others. The CC is a decision maker, not a calculator.
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technically, the car chief can run the pit crew. IIRC, he's the one making tire and fuel calls, and validates suspension changes (wedge and track bar).
 
I think Eski is probably right. Tony knows what he wants out of the car and can call for changes he wants. Alan Kulwicki was the same way. Of course Alan had an engineering degree.

So does Ryan Newman, BTW.
 
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