Inside the Garage: Tryson

Kurt Busch won poles at both road-course races during the 2006 Nextel Cup season, led the most laps, and was in contention to win both races.

Yet the record book shows only a fifth-place finish at Infineon Raceway and a 19th at Watkins Glen International.

"It was definitely the same old story it seems our team has faced so many times in that the results just did not match our competitiveness," said Busch, the 2004 series champion. "We're determined to get that turned around and there's no better place to do that than this weekend's return to road-course racing."

To that end, Penske Racing South has hired Pat Tryson as crew chief for the No. 2 Dodge. Tryson replaces Troy Raker, who served as interim crew chief since Texas. Raker is returning to his previous role within the team's engineering department.

A 10-year veteran crew chief in the Cup Series, Tryson led Mark Martin to the Chase for Nextel Cup in each of the past three seasons while working for Roush Fenway Racing. Most recently, he served as Greg Biffle's crew chief before being released by the team in May.

Tryson told ESPN.com that one of the reasons he became expendable was because Roush has become focused on building around engineers, not crew chiefs and engineers. Greg Erwin, Biffle's new crew chief, has an engineering degree from Clemson University.

"Most of us believe you've got to have both," Tryson said. "You've got to have the racer and engineer working well together and the crew chief. That's what we had last year with Mark [Martin]. Everybody worked real well together. This year we didn't have that for whatever reason."

After a short hiatus, Tryson is back on the pit box. "I'm really looking forward to getting back to the races," Tryson said. "Working with Kurt and the Penske organization is a great opportunity and I'm confident that we can accomplish great things together."

"We have been knocking at the door and I think Pat can really help take us to the next level," Busch said. "Troy has done a great job filling in for Roy McCauley and I think Pat's presence will add even more depth to our team."

Tryson steps into an organization that has both Busch and Ryan Newman in the thick of the Chase, and with Sonoma up next the No. 2 team realizes now is the time to make a move.

"We've been looking forward to getting back to the road courses for a long time now," said Busch, who is 16th in points, 69 behind Newman in 15th place. "With the great test we had at VIR [Virginia International Raceway, a 3.27-mile road course] a few weeks back [on June 6], we're unbelievably excited about getting out to Sonoma and see how we stack up this time around.

Autostock

Pat Tryson

"As strong as we were on the road courses last season, we're thinking we have the opportunity to get out there and have an even stronger Miller Lite Dodge this time around. It was a good feeling to finally get acknowledged for our road-racing efforts last year. Because we've yet to win a Cup race on the road courses, I doubt that we're looked at as a favorite going into this weekend's race at Sonoma. But at the same time, I don't think it would be too big of a shock if we do really well out there."

With Tryson on board, Busch & Co. are now focused on the task at hand -- Sonoma and moving up in the point standings.

"Pat is a racer who is well respected in the garage area and we look forward to the experience and leadership he will provide to the No. 2 team," said Tim Cindric, president of Penske Performance Inc.

"Competing for championships is our goal and Pat's proven that he has the ability to get top-level teams and drivers into the Chase. He will be a true asset to our company as we continue to build for our future."