Inside the Garage: JGR crew chief Steve Addington

There are a number of changes in the wind at Joe Gibbs Racing.

But while there is a definite switch coming in the driver of the No. 18 car -- where next season Kyle Busch will replace J.J. Yeley -- and there also appears to be a switch in manufacturers on the way, the crew chief on the 18 will remain the same. It will be long-time JGR employee Steve Addington.

Busch says move to Toyota done deal

Kyle Busch, new driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, may have let the cat out of the bag when he said at a press conference that JGR will announce the team is leaving Chevrolet for Toyota.

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Now in his third season as a Cup crew chief after a long and successful stint as one in the Busch Series, Addington sat down with NASCAR.COM to discuss the upcoming race at Richmond where he will continue to work with Yeley, what the future may hold with the brash Busch, and other matters.

Q: What do you like about the Richmond track, one of the more popular stops on the NASCAR circuit?

Addington: Richmond has always been one of my favorite race tracks to go to. I've always ran good there when I was working with Jason Keller [for 15 seasons in the Busch Series]. I ran good there with Mike Bliss [also in the Busch Series]. I always look forward to going there. It's a neat little racetrack. If you've got a good racecar, you can pass on it. Going there with our Car of Tomorrow program, I feel good about that. We've got a good one here and I'm looking forward to racing with it there.

Q: With the 12 Chase qualifiers virtually locked in going into this Saturday night's race, and lots of guys hungering for a win either to gain bonus points for the Chase or to salvage something from an otherwise lost season, could Richmond be even wilder than usual this time around?

Addington: I think it'll be pretty exciting. I don't think anybody is really going to change up what they've been doing all that much. Guys that are locked in are probably going to be a little bit more aggressive, trying to get a read on how aggressive they can be in the COT races [during the upcoming Chase]. You might see some guys try some different things. The guys that aren't in, I'm sure they're going to be all pumped up and fired up to do what they can to go for a win. So it could get real exciting toward the end of the race.

Q: Now that you've had several races in it, what do you think of the Car of Tomorrow?

Addington: I won't say I didn't like it at first. Everybody is on the same playing field right now with that car. With our program, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing is working hard on that program, doing the testing and stuff. So right now I think we've got one of the better [COT] programs. It's not as bad as it seemed at first. I mean, it's going to be real interesting going to the superspeedways with that car. That's still an unknown. But everybody's in the same boat, so that's all right.

Q: Really, won't it be until the middle of next year before everyone finds out for sure that they've got in the COT?

Addington: They've got your hands tied so much body-wise and stuff, it's going to be tough to work on the aero programs with that that thing. It's just going to be pretty interesting to see which team finds out what's the quickest, and puts it in the drivers' hands. I think with our driver lineup next year, we're pretty excited about that. Once it's in their hands, we feel real good about our chances.

Q: Speaking of the driver lineup at JGR, talk about adding Kyle Busch to a group that already included Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. How do you feel about working with Kyle?

Addington: I'm really looking forward to working with Kyle. You watch him in the Truck Series, you watch him in the Busch Series and you watch him in the Cup Series -- and he's fast everywhere he goes. You can't guess perfect [on the setup] all the time, but he always manages to get a top-five or top-10 finish out of everything he sits in. Looking at him and our program, I think everything fits together where we'll be great competitors next year.

Q: Kyle has been accused of being a bit of a loose cannon. Does that concern you?

Addington: You look at it and he's a young kid. He's been thrown into the spotlight here. Anything he does is going to get criticized -- or maybe not criticized, but scrutinized. He's out there in the public eye. Stuff that me and you do nobody even thinks nothing about it. And it you look at it, it's been a while since he's had any problems. Down the line I think he's handled himself very well with frustration lately. So, I mean, I think as he gets settled in here, he's already matured a bunch. And running good takes care of all that anyway.

Q: The other day after Busch supposedly spilled the beans about the organization making the switch from Chevrolets to Toyotas next season, J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR, joked that Kyle will fit right in. ...

Addington: [chuckling]: Yeah, that's true. It's going to be three great personalities to work with. It's going to be a lot of fun -- probably never a dull moment. And especially when you think about three guys racing each other from the same company hopefully up front, that's going to be a neat thing. When the 20 and the 11 race each other now, that's cool. We think next year we can get the third car up there into that mix with them.

Q: Has it been strange finishing out this year with Yeley as a lame-duck driver of the No. 18?

Addington: It is in a way, but I think everybody is pretty comfortable with it. He's working on his deal. He's got a place to go. It's been kind of a smooth transition. He's excited about his future; we're excited about our future -- and we're trying to get him to Victory Lane before he leaves Joe Gibbs Racing.

Q: How huge an adjustment would a switch to Toyotas be for you as a crew chief?

Addington: Well, I mean, nothing's really done yet. I haven't really looked into it. Our focus has been on this year, what we've got to do to try to finish strong this year. If something comes and we make the change and they announce that it's official, that's when we'll start working toward next year and figuring all that out.