Sometimes a man can only take so much verbal abuse. It seemed like the 2011 season for Kurt Busch and Steve Addington was one that was more of a soap opera than a race.
Almost on a weekly basis, the radio of Busch was filled with jabs at the team, the setup, and the Penske organization. The verbal sparing got to the point where Roger Penske himself has stepped in and told his lead driver to stop and focus on his job. Even that on occasion was not enough to stop it from happening.
Busch ended the 2011 season with two wins, but finished 11th in the standings.
The final race of the season was possibly the final straw in Busch's relationship with Addington. Early in the race, the transmission went out on Busch's No. 22 Dodge, and going to the garage he let it be known he wasn't happy. Sure, he didn't do it on the radio, but he did it on camera. Flipping the bird to a car in his way definitely didn't give him a chance to make friends.
Then the video of him getting in the face of ESPN's Dr. Jerry Punch, a man who is very well respected in the garage area, quite possibly was the last straw.
One day after the season finale at Homestead, rumors began flying that Addington was gone, leaving on his own terms. Sure enough, a day later, Penske Racing made it official that Addington was leaving. Despite earlier in the year him denying that he was going elsewhere, it seemed as though Busch's rants on the radio finally got to him.
It's hard to set up a car for someone that constantly belittles the team.
One of the obvious times this happened was at New Hampshire in the Chase, when Busch's car was late to the inspection line, and actually failed. Busch's car had to be adjusted to be in compliance, and was held as punishment. The car didn't even make the grid until after the National Anthem was sung.
That race alone saw a disgusted Busch take out his anger on his crew, specifically Addington since he was the usual voice in the ear.
There's no doubt that Addington has seen his share of angry drivers. The last two each had the last name of Busch, as Addington was the crew chief for younger brother Kyle from 2008 until the Chase in 2009.
But in all honesty, this season of hearing the verbal abuse from Busch finally was what broke Addington, and made him decide to leave Penske for Stewart-Haas Racing and the crew chief position with Tony Stewart.
It's extremely difficult to work with someone that won't give any positive feedback when things aren't going right. Whenever Dale Earnhardt Jr. worked with Tony Eury Jr, it was the same thing. They wouldn't discuss changes to the car to make it better, it was more of a family dispute. That changed after a year and a half with Lance McGrew when he was teamed with Steve Letarte.
That ended, and Junior himself became excited about racing again, knowing he had the confidence from his team and crew chief.
What Busch needs is someone who is willing to get him under control, keep him from going off on his team and making it seem they cannot win, and encourage his driver to get to the front.
Whomever takes over the spot is going to have a difficult job. If they can keep Busch in check, then they're sticking around for a long time.
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