Busch, Kahne on mission while teams are in transition

The last things any driver or team needs while trying to run down a championship are internal issues and distractions.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne are faced with during this year's Chase.

Kasey Kahne is trying to win a title for owner Richard Petty in the midst of a key personnel switch. (Getty Images)

Busch has the uneasy task of working with a crew chief who will be leaving his team at the end of the season. Pat Tryson's announcement that he was packing up his tool box and heading to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010 has put the Penske Racing operation in a bit of an awkward situation.

Reports last weekend in New Hampshire were that Tryson is only allowed in the shop for Tuesday debriefing meetings and does not have access to Penske headquarters any other time during the week.

While Busch continues to insist there aren't as many problems with the arrangement as some would believe, he does acknowledge the challenge.

"We're making the best of it, and this type of format is definitely something that keeps you on your toes, and sometimes that can be the best thing when you're heading down the stretch run," Busch said.

In fact, Busch doesn't think the limited access Tryson has to the shop won't get in the way of his quest for a second title as long as the work on race weekends goes smoothly.

"I don't see it bringing up any issues," Busch said. "The fact of him still being there on race weekends and being the leader will definitely keep the continuity together Friday, Saturday and Sunday. With him just showing up on Tuesdays -- crew guys are off on Monday, so everybody's off Mondays. Tuesday, he was there this morning.

"We had the driver debrief, and business was usual. It felt great. And him sitting down with the other leaders of our team to go over the plan for this next week was business as usual."

Busch and Tryson have been known to go at each other in radio communication during races, but both insist personal reasons are not what caused the split.

However, with Tryson headed to a competitor next season and Penske already in high gear preparing for 2010, Busch understands why his crew chief has been given limited access.

"There's obviously the numbers that he's going to see and the information that he's going to understand, which is fine because we need that for the next nine weeks," Busch said. "The concern on the management side is the development for 2010. I can understand that, but at the same time, the present is now, and we need to continue working as a group together. He's not going to know exactly what some of the new developments are behind the scenes by just keeping him around for a short time during the week."

Busch shares the same positive attitude of Kahne's, who is in the midst of a major upheaval within the Richard Petty Motorsports organization.

As RPM works on the details of its impending merger with Yates Racing, Kahne is trying to win his first championship. That includes watching personnel leaving, like the departure of vice president of competition Mark McArdle last week.

But Kahne believes, despite a 39th-place stumble in the Chase opener at New Hampshire last week, his team can compete this year while the winds of change swirl around him.

"You think about what other teams are doing and where we're at. And we're actually running really well," Kahne said. "It crosses my mind, but I still like the people that I work with. I was at the shop on Tuesday for four or five hours just walking around talking to the guys building the chassis, the guys building the bodies and putting the cars together. I like those guys. I've known them for six years now and we're friends.

"It's nice to have that and I like where I'm at on that side of things. We'll see how this whole championship Chase thing goes and then we'll figure it out from there. It's definitely something that I'll have to do a lot of thinking about and kind of figure out what I want to do with my career after 2010."

Garage chatter

• Kahne will revert back to the older Dodge R-5 engine this week after his broken crankshaft ended his race last week in New Hampshire. The decision may mean the RPM organization stays with the older Dodge motor for the remainder of its association with Chrysler before the transition to Ford next year, after the merger with Yates is complete.

• The news of Jack Daniel's departure from NASCAR as a sponsor of Richard Childress Racing's No. 07 Chevrolet has cast some doubt on whether the team can field four cars again in 2010. Team owner Richard Childress still has plans to keep his current roster of Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer intact, but the search to replace Jack Daniels is on.