New crew helps Kurt Busch

DALLAS - Maybe all Kurt Busch needed was the right crew chief - NASCAR's version of a head coach - to get his season turned around.

A good crew chief motivates his team and driver to do the little things needed to win. He makes adjustments on the fly that turn a bad car into one that's decent enough to earn a top 10. He finds missing confidence that enables a team that is close to winning to actually push through and claim a victory.

Pat Tryson, 43, is doing that for Busch and his No. 2 Dodge team at Penske Racing.

Tryson has helped guide Busch to two wins in the last three races, including a dominant performance at Michigan on Tuesday. Busch's victory increased his cushion on the 12th and final spot in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. In fact, Busch's two wins mean that if the Chase started today, he would be seeded fourth. And that's before he races Saturday night at Bristol, a track where he has won five times since 2002.

Tryson deserves some credit for Busch's success.

"I think Pat has brought a level of experience," said team owner Roger Penske following Tuesday's race. "I think it's just come together. Kurt has a lot of confidence in Pat. You build a family, and we're starting to get that family with the right continuity and experience."

Tryson joined Penske Racing in June, making him Busch's third crew chief this season. Roy McCauley started the season with Penske but took a leave of absence to tend to his wife, who has cancer. McCauley is working on the Car of Tomorrow testing for Penske so he can stay closer to home. Troy Raker took McCauley's place but didn't want the job permanently.

Tryson, meanwhile, started the season with Greg Biffle. He was Mark Martin's crew chief during the first three seasons of the Chase format, helping Martin qualify all three seasons. When Martin left Roush Fenway Racing before this season, Tryson slid over to Biffle's No. 16 team. But Biffle was 16th in the standings, and the team decided to make a change in May.

"It's the worst time of the year to be looking for work, so I was worried and wasn't sure if an opportunity would present itself," Tryson said in a phone interview Wednesday. "But it did, and it's been great for me. It's the happiest I've been for a while."

Tryson found a team that he thought was close to being a consistent contender again. Busch won the 2004 Cup championship but was 10th in 2005 and dropped to 16th in points last season.

"All the pieces were there; they just needed to be put in a little different order with some little tweaks," Tryson said.

Since Tryson arrived two days before the road race at Infineon Raceway on June 24, Busch has steadily improved. With Tryson calling the shots, he has an average finish of 9.5 in the eight races, including two wins. Busch had a 19.33 average finish in the 15 races before Tryson.

Busch also seems more relaxed. He received a 100-point penalty for his antics in June at Dover. Busch sped down pit road to yell at Tony Stewart and nearly knocked over Stewart's jack man. But Tryson sees a more mature Busch now.

"Everybody makes mistakes, and it seems like his mistakes get overamplified," Tryson said. "He's past it, and we're all behind him, and everybody at Penske Racing is here with him. Everybody here has calmed him down. He doesn't feel like he has to carry the whole program."

Tryson said his immediate goal was to get Busch into the Chase.

Busch was 16th in the standings and 114 points out of 12th when Tryson arrived.

"We knew it was going to be tough, but that was the goal," Tryson said. "It's been a great thing to get these wins, and hopefully we'll keep digging. We just have to keep it going."

Sounds like a coach making sure his team is focused and ready for the playoffs, doesn't it?