During the race weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA I was lucky enough to catch Pat Tryson, the crew chief of Penske Racing’s No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for a little chat outside the team hauler. The Sonoma race marked Pat’s one year anniversary with the team and to date he has enjoyed three trips to Victory Lane (Pocono and Michigan in 2007; New Hampshire in 2008) with the Brew Crew. Pat is an intimidating guy around the garage, kind of the strong silent type, but really he is easy to talk to, has a great sense of humor and a lot of Pennsylvania pride!
Pat has been hanging around racing garages for a long time. At age 16, he got his first taste in the garage at the drag racing strips with his father, who was an engine builder. Pat didn’t only get his education in the garages though, he graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a B.A in Business Administration (but really he went there to play football!). He moved to North Carolina and worked with the Allison brothers building chassis and then landed a job as the car chief/mechanic on Kenny Bernstein’s top fuel dragster.
His first year as a NASCAR crew chief came in 1997 for Geoffrey Bodine and then in 1998, he was the crew chief for Geoff’s brother, Todd Bodine. In 1999, Pat was snatched up by the Roush organization where he started as Kevin Lepage’s crew chief. He left Roush in 2001 to work for the Wood Brother’s as the crew chief on the No. 21 car with Ricky Rudd and Elliott Sadler but returned to Roush in 2003 as the crew chief for the No. 6 team and Mark Martin and then for Greg Biffle before joining the Miller Lite team in June 2007.
Pat worked his way up through the ranks but it has come with some sacrifices. His schedule is grueling as he works at the Penske shop Monday through Thursday, when he gets the afternoon off and then leaves with the team on Thursday evening and is on the pit box until Sunday night. Pat admits the hardest part is not spending much time with his wife and seven year old daughter, but unfortunately, it comes with the territory of being a crew chief on a top team.
Pat’s experience has given him a wealth of knowledge but admits the new car (the “Car of Tomorrow” or COT) which was introduced full time this year by NASCAR means starting over with setups. He spoke candidly about the difficulty setting up the car since NASCAR regulates nearly everything it has taken away much of the crew chiefs’ creativity and tools to set up the car. Drivers who are used to setting up the car’s to their “liking” and who are used to a certain feel of the car through the turns seem to be struggling the most to adapt to the COT and there is not a happy crew chief in the garages as far as I can tell. The main problem for the No. 2 team has been getting the car to turn without blowing the right front tires out.
Both Pat and Kurt Busch believe there is an easy fix—raise the splitter 3 inches and eliminate the bump stops. However, NASCAR isn’t listening to the teams because Pat says, “they won’t admit they are wrong.” He said moving to the COT was not really about safety as NASCAR advertised, although safety improvements have been included in the new car, it was instead an attempt by NASCAR to get IROC-style (International Race of Champions-where the cars are set up exactly the same) racing results. But instead of side-by-side racing, NASCAR got a car that cannot pass.
According to Pat, NASCAR has been hearing the teams loud and clear, loud enough to call a halt to the complaints in a special drivers meeting several weeks ago. So look for NASCAR to make it seem like they didn’t make any mistakes with the car, but instead advertise only “improvements” like their newfound idea to give unlimited tests (read- the teams can’t figure out the set ups but NASCAR can’t be wrong so let’s just test more!).
Pat and the Brew Crew won’t stop trying to get creative with the setups and working hard to get Kurt the best car possible. I know they will be back in Victory Lane again very soon. Thanks for the inside scoop Pat!
Check out www.millerliteracing.com in the Team Forum to see my first behind the scene's video with the Miller Lite Crew.
Kristen, good insight into the life of a crew chief. I agree with Pat Tryson; it seems to me NASCAR just cannot admit that they are wrong and they think the teams are too stupid to figure out the setups.
Kristen- Very good stuff. I have said that all along. That the new car had nothing to do with being safer or more cost efficient. Thats why they have the safer barriers. Besides how much more safer can the cars be?
I just wish that Brian would address the issue of the newer car instead of trying to push his mistake under the rug. There will come a time when he is going to have no choice but to address it. In typical France form. They always look the other way or better yet. They talk about other things that have little significance. Good job on bringing this to light.
Hi jon. How was your 4th? I hope that you had a safe one. There were a lot of fireworks at Irwindale. Not only in the air. But also out on the track. Nothing like a good brawl after during the race. Well almost.
Safety is a turnkey word, so is cost efficient... NASCAR evidently likes pushing those ideas at the public. Sounds like it isn't necessarily true. I'd like to know more about what little they have to play with in the realm of ground effect aerodynamics. Seems like this is one area where the teams are allowed some latitude.
I just hope that Nascar dosen't hit Mr. Tryson with a (comments detrimental to stockcar racing) penalty. Likely a 6 week vacation and 100k payment to Nascar.
Great behind the scenes story and pics, Kris. Tryson is a great guy. I remember when he was with E Sad at the Wood Bros. He made a great call at Bristol to get Elliott his 1st win.
NASCAR needs to listen to the teams about what to do with the COT, for sure. The problem is, that if you ask 43 teams what to change to make it better, you'll get about 25 different ideas. And, all of them will think that they're right. No bumpstops is something I've been hearing a lot. NASCAR should at least test it.
Kristen,
You just keep on outdoing yourself on every post.
Now what baffles the heck out of me is that NASCAR thinks they know more than the crew chiefs and the drivers themselves. Seems that NASCAR officials are a very arrogant collective group of A-holes.
Keep it coming sweetie I always enjoy what you bring for us to read.
Jon- Thanks. NASCAR can never be wrong is a very popular theme in the garages.
3fan- Hard to know if this was Brian, Helton or Hunter or ?? Brian seems to be all about business, not sure how much he actually understands the car itself.
Dwindy- I will get more info on the area's they are allowed to play with, but I know it isnt much. It is hard to catch these guys for more than a few mins at a time!
charrit- LOL, I asked him 2x if it was ok to print that! ("Are you sure?!?!")
noahspop- I'll start talking Noah up to the flagmen and women!
gonger- Thanks, glad you liked it!
Hanahan- Tryson is credited with reviving Martin's career too. I know it seems that way but most of the teams appear to want the splitter raised and the bump stops gone.
gambit- Sexy new avatar! Thank you...I would say its not the officials at the track, those guys for the most part are awesome and are fairly sympathetic to the teams. I think its NASCAR brass that is the problem. More coming!
Great stuff, KLV. I have been screaming for months now that the bump stops have to go. They were a problem in 2003-04 and they are worse now. The splitter idea makes sense just for the mention of ground clearance and to give some variable play back to the shocks and springs.
Disagree with Pat about the safety issue. Know that he IS an insider, but to say that the COT wasn't a part of safety design does not sound logical. It MAY NOT go far enough, but it is a safer car. Now we need soft walls to cover the inside barriers as well as outside at all NASCAR sanctioned events, regardless of cost.
GOod article on Pat and the COT fiasco. Lets hope Helton doesn't read this or sparks will fly.
The COT is a good step for safety but there are many issues that NASCAR is going to have to admit they were wrong in and allow the crews to work their magic to improve the car.
Then NASCAR can mandate the improvements for all the teams and make it look like they were the genius behind the changes.
Kristen. you always kick a-ss on the behind the scenes pieces. You should have access to every garage in NASCAR. A weekly insider edition of the real world of racing.
i'm sure Pat would be proud to read the kind words you said about him here.
moseby- I think safety was part of the design but it was not the main reason they wanted to use the COT which is how NASCAR touted it as well as being cost efficient, which it also is not...yet anyway. No doubt they made it safer but I think Pat and others have indicated NASCAR wanted more control over the cars to make them more like the IROC series.
photo- I doubt I am on Helton's reading list...I wish!
Cuda- I love working with the Miller Lite guys but would welcome talking to all the teams. I am starting to know a few of Ryan's crew, slowly but surely!
Great reporting on the Miller Team's Crew Chief. It cant be any easy job lately...but getting back into victory lane make those late nights a bit easier to handle. Sometimes us 9-5 employees complain about our hours, not really imagining how hard those NASCAR team employees work!
Gerrel- I was shocked when I heard Pat only spends evenings Mon-Wed with his family and then usually has lunch with them before flying out on Thursday. A lot of crew members have told me they dont want to be a crew chief, shooting for team engineer instead because of the horrible hours.
I have been watching Roudy since he was about 14 years young, and have always said, he will someday be running for a NASCAR championship. He is not my favorite guy out there, but can and will serve notice to everyone, he is well on his way to doing it in 08. He can flat drive a race car no matter how good or bad that car is. Go Gordon, but watch out for Roudy, as he will be there and is very capable of continuing what he done it the chase.
Yeah funny how when this COT was about ready to be displayed, Helton starts talking about world NASCAR and then the cars looks like German touring car DTM series and the V8- Supercars with a low front spoiler and wing on the rear.
Great stuff Kristen and I thank you for taking the time to do this.
Cheers
A rare SF NASCAR fan who loves her Arizona Wildcats as well. By day, a well respected Psychologist, on weekends "Start Your Engines!!"
Winner of the 2007 "Miller Lite Next Great Sportswriter" Contest and contributing writer on FOXSports.com .
