Penske divides Tryson's duties to focus on Chase

NEW YORK -- In the wake of crew chief Pat Tryson announcing that he would not return to Penske Racing in 2010, the team has deferred Tryson's responsibilities at the shop to other team members, led by race engineer Dave Winston.

Driver Kurt Busch spoke of the changes Thursday at various stops on Chase for the Sprint Cup Media Day, and Penske spokesman Jonathan Gibson confirmed the move later in the evening.

Tryson

"We have one crew chief [and] as the crew chief, Pat is solely focused on the 2009 Chase and competing for the championship with the Miller Lite Dodge team," Gibson said. "This will allow other team members to take the lead in the development of 2010 and beyond. Dave is still in the race engineer position and is the point man at the shop."

Tryson told Busch he'd accepted a position to become Martin Truex Jr.'s crew chief at Michael Waltrip Racing on Sept. 8. On Thursday, Busch spoke highly of Tryson and the team's focus in engineering his second-place finish at Richmond, which secured the seventh seed in the Chase field.

• Penske Racing also is considering a number of candidates, both from in-house and out, to serve as new driver Brad Keselowski's crew chief in the Nationwide Series next year. Keselowski, who currently drives a full Nationwide schedule for JR Motorsports and part-time in the Cup Series for a couple of teams, will run full-time in both series next year.

"As for the No. 22 Nationwide team," Gibson said of Keselowski's planned effort, "we are considering our options and at this point, we are not prepared to make an announcement."