Team picks up veteran leadership for first full season under new ownership
Phoenix Racing today announced that Steve Addington will serve as competition director for the team and crew chief of the No. 51 Chevrolet for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The move brings experienced leadership to the team that will compete fulltime in 2014 under owner Harry Scott, Jr.
“In my opinion Steve is the perfect guy for the job,” said Scott. “He is part of the Chevrolet family, the Hendrick family and I feel fortunate that he is now part of our family.”
“I also want to thank Jimmy Elledge for stepping in at a critical time this season and serving as the interim crew chief for the past six races,” Scott said. “We look forward to hopefully working with Jimmy again down the road.”
“I am thrilled to be part of the Phoenix Racing team and working with Harry,” said Addington. “Harry has a vision to make this team a championship contender and I am excited to be part of it.”
Addington has served as a crew chief in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for ten years and has amassed 20 wins, 66 Top 5s and 105 Top 10s during that time.
He was crew chief for Kyle Busch in 2008 when they won eight races. That year included a stretch where they won seven out of 14 races including at varied tracks such as Talladega, Darlington and Sonoma.
During 2010 – 2011 Addington was crew chief for Kyle’s big brother Kurt Busch and won four races and had 17 Top 5s and 33 Top 10s. During the 2010 season the Kurt Busch – Addington tandem pulled off the Charlotte sweep winning the Sprint All-star and the Coca-Cola 600.
Most recently Addington was Tony Stewart’s crew chief. The Stewart – Addington combination won at Dover International Speedway this season along with five Top 5s and eight Top 10s before Stewart was injured ending his season. In 2012, the combo racked up three wins, 12 Top 5s and 16 Top 10s on the way to a 9th place finish in the championship points standings.
Scott purchased Phoenix Racing in September of this year from James Finch. Since then a number of drivers have piloted the No. 51 including Justin Allgaier, Michael McDowell and Kyle Larson.
Additional information about the 2014 driver of the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet and its sponsor will be announced at a later date.
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