Busch, Addington ready to start season together (cont'd)

He will need to get over it quickly, Addington said, because how a team works its way through the difficult times often defines who well it will be able to flourish in the good ones.

"That's one thing I told him coming in there: when our backs are against the wall, we've all gotta be turned and facing the same direction. That's the big key to it," Addington said.

“

I want to win a championship -- and I think I've put myself in the best position to do that.

”

-- STEVE ADDINGTON

"The experience Kurt has, going through the up and down seasons and realizing what it takes to run for a championship, because he's won one before [in 2004]. That's a really big part of it, being patient and taking those bad days and making the best of them."

Addington helped guide Kyle Busch to 12 Cup victories in the less than two seasons they were together, but oftentimes it was feast or famine. Driver, crew chief and management at JGR all were deeply disappointed when Kyle narrowly failed to qualify for the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup field that determines the season's champion, falling eight points short.

Kurt Busch won two races last season with Tryson atop his pit box and finished fourth in the points standings, trailing only four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson and two of Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammates in Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon. Kurt said he took note not only of all the races Addington helped his little brother win on the Cup side, but also the earlier success Addington enjoyed during a 15-year stint as crew chief in the Nationwide Series.

"The credentials he brings were the deciding factor," Busch said. "We had looked at a guy internally, and I was ready to go with him. But somebody of Steve's caliber and status made me really reevaluate where we needed to go."

Addington, 45, said serving as crew chief for another Busch brother did not for a moment give him pause to consider turning down Kurt's job offer. He reiterated his belief that Kurt's legendary verbal explosions over the radio during races are often overblown by fans and media.

"It's not that bad, guys. From somebody who sits in my seat, it's cool to have somebody who is that intense; it's cool to have somebody who wants to win that bad," Addington said. "I've been in different situations in my career, even in the Busch [now Nationwide] Series, where you're trying to light that fire under the driver -- and it's easier to cool them down than it is to try to light it.

"I've probably been called worse outside the box than what y'all have heard me get called on Sundays. That stuff doesn't bother me and has never bothered me. The bad part of that -- and I've told Kurt this -- is that people hear that and they think it's a bad relationship between the crew chief and driver. And it's not.

"I can tell you that from talking with Pat Tryson. He said, 'No matter how bad it got, I told Roger that cat can drive that race car -- and I can deal with that quicker than I can deal with someone who's going to be content with riding around 25th in the race car.' That's the way we think. What you [in the media] hear and put out there and take out of it is different."

All of which begs one more question: do Kurt and Kyle, who haven't always gotten along on the race track, really get together for a family Christmas card photo shoot every year?

"It was a family thing. Mom sent 'em all out. But yeah, we all sat there for a pretty cool photo," said Kurt, smiling.

"We had our dogs and not a western theme, but an old-school theme. We had an old DeSoto out in front of one of these old houses that we have. It was fun stuff. Ah, we get together all the time."

Addington said he wouldn't mind seeing them get together on the race track -- not wrecking each other, but battling for the win in the upcoming Daytona 500 and perhaps even for the Sprint Cup championship down the road.

"As long as Kurt finishes first and Kyle second," joked Addington, who insisted that he left JGR on good terms and harbors no ill will toward anyone there. "They wanted me to stay there and do something in a Nationwide capacity or something, but I just felt I had unfinished business left in this [Sprint Cup] garage area. I want to win a championship -- and I think I've put myself in the best position to do that."