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| Pat Tryson |
BK Racing purchased the assets of the former Red Bull Racing during the offseason, and fields the No. 93 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota for driver Travis Kvapil, as well as Landon Cassill’s No. 83 Burger King/Dr. Pepper Toyota. Kvapil and Cassill rank 30thand 31st in Sprint Cup Series points, respectively, and have yet to record a Top-10 finish.
Tryson brings a wealth of experience to the team. He served as crew chief for Kurt Busch at Penske Racing in 2009, before leaving the team for what were termed “personal reasons.” He headed Martin Truex, Jr.’s Michael Waltrip Racing/NAPA Toyota team until stepping down in June, and has most recently worked for Front Row Motorsports as crew chief for David Gilliand. The Malvern, Pa., native got his start in NASCAR working for Kenny Bernstein’s NASCAR operation, and has also worked for Roush-Fenway and Wood Brothers Racing.
BK Racing co-owner Ron Devine said that experience will pay immediate dividends for the team.
“We’ve sort of plateaued as a team, and bringing in a guy like a Pat will help us continue to evolve,” he said. “When word of his hiring began to circulate through our building, the entire team got excited. I think this is where we begin to improve and develop. We’ve been playing catch up for quite some time, and I think it’s time for us to put our thinking caps on and work smarter.”
Devine said he initially planned for Tryson to assume his new post next Monday, following this weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. When Tryson was able to secure his release from JTG-Daugherty late last week, he became available to assume his new post immediately.
Exactly what that post will be, however, remains to be seen.
“I’m not exactly sure what the plan is yet,” said Tryson today. “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.”
Devine said he believes Tryson will ultimately serve in what he called “a team capacity. Right now, the 93 car can use some support, so we’ll use him there,” he said. “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.
“I never thought four-tenths of a second could mean so much,” said Devine of his first season of Sprint Cup competition. “In this sport, it is literally fractions of a second between fourth place and 24th. The bottom line is that we need help, and he’ll bring us that help, no matter what we call him.”
Photo: Getty Images
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