Crew chief Steve Addingto, seen at right with former driver Kyle Busch, is moving to Kurt Busch’s Penske Team in 2010. (Photo: John Clark/NASCAR This Week)
Last week Penske Racing announced the hiring of Steve Addington, 45, as Kurt Busch's crew chief in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge.
Addington replaces Pat Tryson, who announced late in the 2009 season that he was moving to Michael Waltrip Racing to be crew chief for Martin Truex Jr.
Busch is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He won the championship in 2004 while competing for what is now Roush Fenway Racing.
"Steve Addington has a proven track record of success in NASCAR, and we are excited to welcome him to Penske Racing," said Roger Penske. "By adding Steve to the winning Miller Lite team and working closely with Kurt, we believe we have the combination in place to compete for a championship as we head into the 2010 season."
Addington, from Spartanburg, S.C., first became a Sprint Cup crew chief with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005. He was paired with Kurt Busch's younger brother, Kyle, in 2008-09.
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INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR--Automobile Racing Club of America testing at Daytona was a subject of interest mainly because of the presence of Indy Racing League veteran Danica Patrick, who will make her stock-car debut on Feb. 6 in the 2.5-mile track's annual ARCA event.
One of the overlooked aspects of the testing was the considerable international contingent of drivers. Among those lapping the track in the sessions were Milka Duno of Caracas, Venezuela; Narain Karthikeyan of India, Darryl O'Young of Hong Kong and four Canadians: Steve Arpin, Wheeler Boys, Derek White and Terry Jones.
Since ARCA's founding in 1953, at various times drivers have competed from Colombia, Germany, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, Japan and France.
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NO MORE-Co-owners Tony and Bryan Mullet announced they are closing CJM Racing, which competed full-time in the Nationwide Series this year.
"As of now, it appears that CJM will not be running the 2010 Nationwide season," read a release from the owners. "It is really hard for us to see this great group of people move in other directions."
The team began in 2001 when the Mullet brothers began investing in the (then) Craftsman Truck Series entries of Morgan Shepherd.
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NEW BLUE OVAL--Jamie Allison has been named to replace Brian Wolfe as director of Ford North America Motorsports, effective Jan. 1, 2010.
Wolfe has been named to a new position in "global product development."
Allison moves up from Ford Performance Group Manager.
"For a kid who wanted to work for Ford Motor Company, to help carry forward a tradition that Henry Ford himself started is something special," said Allison, a 22-year veteran of the company.