Tryson stepped down from his position with Michael Waltrip Racing. Since then, he has served as a consultant for JTG Daugherty Racing. He was recently granted his release from that contract so he could join BKR immediately.

Tryson said:

I’m not exactly sure what the plan is yet. We’ll see as we go along. I’ve been asked to look around, assess the situation and see where I think they can use some help. Once I do that, I’ll know more.

BKR owner Ron Devine added:

Pat is obviously crew chief capable, but he’s also competition director capable. We’ll see where he feels he can be of the most use.

Busch, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion, has been with Penske since 2006, and has been at the Cup level for 11 years. He has posted 24 wins in his Cup career, 1o of them with Penske.

But Busch has received extra attention this season after confrontations with media members and highly publicized in-race meltdowns directed towards his team and crew chief.

Following his transmission problems at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Busch was caught on camera making an obscene gesture. He was later shown berating ESPN’s Dr. Jerry Punch in a video that went viral on YouTube. NASCAR fined Busch $50,000 for his actions. He apologized.

Both Penske and Shell Pennzoil, Busch’s sponsor, released statements condemning the behavior.

Penske issued its statement shortly after the video went viral. The organization said:

These actions do not represent Penske Racing and are inconsistent with the company’s standards for behavior, respect for others and professionalism. This matter is being reviewed internally with no further comment at this time.

Shell and Pennzoil echoed those sentiments in their statement:

Shell and Pennzoil are disappointed with recent actions by driver, Kurt Busch, at the final race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race season. His actions are in no way consistent with the way we want our brands represented and we have expressed our disappointment and concerns directly to Penske Racing.

In addition to his actions at Homestead, Busch has received a lot of negative attention for his tirades over the radio during races. Busch had a rocky relationship with his crew chief of the last two years, Steve Addington. The pair won four races in two seasons, but Addington chose to leave the team at the end of the season. While there is nothing official to indicate that Addington left due to the way that Busch treated him, it is hard to imagine that it did not play a role.

In his time at Penske, Busch had been with four different crew chiefs.

Rumor has it that David Ragan is the leading candidate for the job. Ragan is coming off of one of his best Sprint Cup seasons, having earned his first career victory at Daytona International Speedway, and being close to winning the Daytona 500. David Reutimann and Brian Vickers, and Sam Hornish, who has driven for Penske before, may also be considered for the ride, if the report is true.

At this time, there has been no official word, so assume this a rumor.

Update: The Associated Press is reporting that Busch and Penske have agreed to part ways. This is the second time in his career, Busch has been released from a major team for his behavior. Busch was released from Roush Fenway Racing following an incident with Arizona police.

Update 2: Penske officially announced the separation. Penske owner Roger Penske said:

I appreciate the victories that Kurt has brought Penske Racing and our sponsors over the past six years. While I am disappointed that Kurt will not be racing for our team in the future, both Kurt and I felt that separating at this time was best for all parties, including our team and sponsors. I wish Kurt the best in his future racing endeavors.

Busch added:

I am grateful to Penske Racing for six very productive years. Together we won a lot of races -16 in all. Leaving a great organization and a lucrative contract is not easy, but it’s an important step for me and allows me to take a deep breath to work on things that can make me a better driver and a better person. I want to personally thank Roger Penske for the opportunity that he has given me.

A spokesman from Penske would not comment on whether or not Addington would return, nor would Addington address the situation.

If the report is true, this would be Busch’s fourth crew chief since joining Penske in 2006. When Busch joined the team, Roy McCauley was his crew chief. But, he left the team in April of 2007 to tend to his ailing wife.

Troy Raker, an engineer with Penske, took over crew chief duties on an interim basis, beginning at Texas Motor Speedway. Nine races later, in June, Pat Tryson, who had been released as Greg Biffle’s crew chief, took over as crew chief duties for Busch while Raker returned to the engineering department.

Tryson served as Busch’s crew chief until then end of the 2009 season, when he left the team. Steve Addington, who had been released by Joe Gibbs Racing as Kurt’s brother Kyle’s crew chief, signed on to replace Tryson.

It is no secret that Kurt Busch has a temper and can be difficult to work with under certain circumstances. There is no word as to whether Busch’s well-documented outburts under Addington had anything to do with the decision not to bring him back next year. But, it stands to reason based on the radio communication that the two have a difficult working relationship.

What is most interesting about this story is that Busch currently sits sixth in points, 16 points behind leader Carl Edwards, and he is still in the title hunt. This news is sure to be a distraction to the team, and it could derail any chance Busch has at a title. So, it begs the question, “Why now?”

Performance is at a stand-still for drivers like Burton, Biffle and Almendinger.  They have a handful of top 10 finishes between them this year and have been flying under the radar all season. Making a crew chief change is a perfect opportunity for these teams to get the improvements they have been looking for. 

All of these teams have the potential to finish well every week, they are just missing a certain spark to get to those finishes.  Hopefully these changes will provide that spark.

For Truex Jr’s team, I feel that communication is one of the major issues.  With only three top 10 finishes and many DNF’s this season, a change had to be made.  Earlier in the year, the team replaced their tire changers in hopes of improving performance.  Unfortunately, their luck never improved.  The No. 56 team now has Chad Johnson as crew chief, formally the lead engineer of Micheal Waltrip Racing.

This team has nothing to lose and everything to gain.  We know that Truex has the potential to win races, he just needs a strong team backing to get there.  I think this change will take time to settle in, but will eventually bring improvement to that MWR team.

Montoya seems to be the roller-coaster driver of this season.  He started off the year well and was as high as fourth in points.  However, in five races out of the last ten, he has finished 20th or worse and has now plummeted to 17th in points.  In my opinion, the crew chief is not the problem. 

We’ve seen Montoya lose his temper with other drivers and his own team countless times throughout the year.  I feel like his temper gets in the way of focusing on his job.  Maybe his new crew chief, Jim Pohlman, can keep the Colombian driver level-headed.  If not, I think Ganassi needs to address the situation and figure out a solution for Montoya.  He is a talented driver, he just needs to focus on his race, rather than focusing on who he’s going to box after the race.

In conclusion, I don’t think this will be the last crew chief changes of the season.  Drivers like, Brian Vickers and Jamie McMurray are used to running well, and aren’t having the finishes they need.  Possible crew chief changes?  I guess we’ll just have to keep watching as this season unfolds.

Johnson replaces Pat Tryson, who is being redeployed at MWR. Tryson told ESPN.com that he didn’t know what his new assignment would be. He said:

Somebody always has to be that guy. I wouldn’t say I was part of the problem. As a company we aren’t running well. It’s a strange deal. I really can’t say much.

Johnson said:

This is a good opportunity for me since this is the direction I have always wanted to go in my NASCAR career. Michael Waltrip Racing is a good organization to work with as we have assembled a strong NAPA Racing team and a more-than-capable driver. My goal is the same goal that this team set at the start of 2011 and that goal is to win races and try to get in the top 10 in points.

Truex said:

Chad’s been a great addition to the NAPA team ever since he joined us last season. … His personality and mine mesh really well. We get along great, and he really understands what I am saying. He is extremely good at pulling more information from me to get the answers to questions he has when setting up the car. The communication between he and I is impressive, and we just click. I’m looking forward to what all we can accomplish together as a team.

This may indicate that there was a communication problem between Tryson and Truex. While Truex did not actually say anything about Tryson in his quote, it can seem to imply that there was a communication problem with Tryson, depending on how you interpret his quote.

Truex has been running well, but the team struggles to get good finishes. The team has three top 10s, with a best finish of sixth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But the team also has five finishes of 20th or worse, and sits 22nd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.

The crew chiefs from the No. 13 (“Bootie” Barker) and No. 47 (Frank Kerr) have been fined $75,000 and placed on probation for the rest of the year for violating Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 20-2.3A (unapproved added weight); 20-7 (all engine cooling system components must be approved by NASCAR prior to being used in competition); and 20-7.3A (radiator mount; failure to submit components) of the Sprint Cup Series rule book.

Robert Germain, owner of the No. 13, and Tad Geschickter, owner of the No. 47, have each been penalized 50 champion owner’s points. And, drivers Papis and Ambrose have each been penalized 50 championship driver points.

Meanwhile, the crew chiefs of the No. 00 (Rodney Childers) and No. 56 (Pat Tryson) have each been fined $25,000 and placed on probation through the end of the year for violating Sections 12-1; 20-7; and 20-7.3A.   

The violations occurred in post-qualifying inspection before the Texas race.

NASCAR confiscated the lower radiator pans on the Nos. 13 and 47 because they were found that the pans were considered unapproved ballast weight mounting, which is a violation of Rule 20-2.3, added car weight. The steel piece taken from Papis’ car weighed 45.2 lbs, while Ambrose’s piece weighed 25.7 lbs.

Cal Wells, of Michael Waltrip Racing, said in a statement:

NASCAR indicated we were running a part, a radiator pan, which had not been officially submitted for approval. We accept NASCAR’s ruling and will not appeal because we cannot debate whether the part was submitted, only whether or not the part needed submission.

 Geschickter said:

While the penalty feels excessive for an apparent misunderstanding on submitting a part, we also understand NASCAR has to police the sport and rule strictly to keep a level playing field among the teams. We will work diligently to ensure that there are no misunderstandings in the future.

The penalties drops Ambrose from 26th to 28th in driver’s points while Papis falls from 37th to 38th.

Addington said:

I am really looking forward to working with Penske Racing, Kurt Busch and the Miller Lite Dodge team. This a championship-caliber team with a great driver, and with the resources and experience at Penske Racing, we have the opportunity to add to the team’s success starting next season.

Pat Tryson, who together with the elder Busch finished fourth in the championship standings this season, left PCR to join Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 56 team, and driver Martin Truex Jr. So, PCR began looking for his replacement. 

Team owner Roger Penske said:

Steve Addington has a proven track record of success in NASCAR, and we are excited to welcome him to Penske Racing. 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.

In Addington’s first season with Kyle Busch, the duo won eight races and posted 17 top 5s, and 21 top 10s. Busch also led the points for 21 of the first 26 races, and he led the points for the 17 races leading up to the Chase. But, once in the Chase, a series of mechanical failures and bad finishes caused him to finish the season 10th in the standings.

This year, many expected him to dominate, much like he did last season. He did win four races, but that was only half of his win total the previous season. He missed the Chase by eight points, and the decision was made to separate Busch and Addington. Shortly thereafter, Addington left JGR.

Addington looks to help the No. 2 team build off of its strong 2009 campaign. Busch won two races, and posted 10 top 5s, and 21 top 10s.

Kurt Busch said:

We’re coming off a strong season, but I know we can be even better in 2010. With Steve on board, I am confident we can build on the momentum from 2009 and compete for wins and the series title in the Miller Lite Dodge.