.jpg) Addington in 2011 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Steven J. Addington (1964-07-04)July 4, 1964 (age 61) |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series |
| Team | 92.DGM Racing |
Steven J. Addington (born July 4, 1964) is an AmericanNASCAR crew chief who works forDGM Racing as the crew chief of their No. 92Chevrolet Camaro SS in theNASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driven byJosh Williams. He has won 20 NASCAR Cup Series races and 11 Xfinity Series races as a crew chief.
Addington started his crew chiefing career in 1993 in the Xfinity Series when it was known as the NASCAR Busch Series forJason Keller's own team, KEL Racing. In 1997, he left forBilly Ballew Motorsports in the Truck Series and came back to Keller's No. 57 car in 1999, now owned by Progressive Motorsports/ppc Racing. In 2004, he became a crew chief forJoe Gibbs Racing in the Busch Series and the Cup Series. He worked as a Cup Series crew chief forTeam Penske in 2010 and 2011,Stewart–Haas Racing in 2012 and 2013, andHScott Motorsports in 2014, 2015 and 2016. He was also the competition director at HScott in addition to being a crew chief for one of the team's cars. After being out of the sport after HScott closed down after the 2016 season, he returned in 2022 and worked forRSS Racing from 2022 to 2024 as an Xfinity Series crew chief.[1]
Addington worked asJason Keller's crew chief in the Busch Series, and the combination collected 10 wins.[2][3]
Addington worked in 2004 as the Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief for their No. 20 NASCAR Busch Series driven byMike Bliss, who finished fifth in points.[2] Bliss also part-time in the Cup Series for JGR in a fourth car for the team, the No. 80, and Addington was also his crew chief in that series.
In 2005, Addington became the crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 car in the NASCAR Cup Series driven byBobby Labonte, replacing Michael "Fatback" McSwain.[2] Labonte left forPetty Enterprises and was replaced byJ. J. Yeley in 2006.[3] Kyle Busch replaced Yeley as the driver of the No. 18 car in 2008 and Addington remained as the crew chief.[4] JGR also switched from Chevrolet to Toyota that year.[5][4] On March 9, 2008, Addington scored his first win as a NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief when the 18 team won the Kobalt Tools 500 atAtlanta Motor Speedway and he was also awarded the "Crew Chief of the Race".[6] Busch lead the points with eight wins going into theChase for the Cup.[7] The team had numerous problems as soon as the Chase started, such as engine failures and wrecks,[8] and Busch finished tenth in the twelve drivers in the Chase.[4] Addington was named the DirecTV Crew Chief of the Year Award at NASCAR's award banquet.[9] Busch ended the season with 21 victories in NASCAR's big three divisions (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, andCraftsman Truck Series), which was seven more wins that any driver had made since the Craftsman Truck Series began in 1995.[5] Busch said "I think the final ten races certainly humbled all of us. Everyone already had virtually guaranteed us the championship after seeing the first 26 races, but it changed so quickly."[4] After Busch missed the 2009 Chase, Addington was relieved of his crew chief duties with three races left in the 2009 season was replaced byDave Rogers.
On December 14, 2009, it was reported that Addington would become the next crew chief forKyle's brotherKurt Busch atTeam Penske, replacing outgoing crew chiefPat Tryson, who had been relieved of his duties following the2009 Sprint Cup Season. In 2011, Addington and Busch would move from Penske's No. 2 car to the team's new No. 22 car.
Addington ended his tenure as Busch's crew chief at the end of 2011. He joinedStewart–Haas Racing as the crew chief of the team's No. 14 Chevrolet, driven by SHR owner/driverTony Stewart and Team Chevy, taking over for 2011 Sprint Cup championship-winning crew chiefDarian Grubb. Addington and Stewart had previously worked together at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Addington missedthe race at Talladega in October 2013 as his wife was about to give birth to a child. SHR competition directorGreg Zipadelli filled in as the crew chief for the No. 14 car in that race,[10] which was driven byAustin Dillon as Stewart had been injured in a dirt racing crash before the race at Watkins Glen which sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Addington was relieved of his duties as crew chief of the No. 14 on November 19, 2013. On November 21, 2013, it was announced that Addington would joinHScott Motorsports in 2014 as the crew chief of their No. 51 car, driven byJustin Allgaier, as well as the team's competition director.[11][12] In 2016, Allgaier went back to the Xfinity Series was replaced byClint Bowyer and the car was renumbered to the No. 15.
In 2016, HScott Motorsports closed down after the end of the season, leaving Addington a free agent. He remained without a crew chiefing job for five years. In 2022, Addington returned to NASCAR and became the crew chief for the No. 38 car forRSS Racing in the Xfinity Series driven byC. J. McLaughlin andParker Retzlaff.[13] In 2023, he returned to crew chief the RSS No. 38 car, primarily driven byJoe Graf Jr.[14] For the season-opener at Daytona, Graf Jr. andRyan Sieg switched rides with Sieg driving the No. 38 and Graf driving the No. 39, with Addington crew chiefing Sieg in that race.[15] For the next two races at Fontana and Las Vegas, Graf drove the No. 19 car forJoe Gibbs Racing instead withKyle Sieg, Ryan's brother, moving from RSS's No. 28 car to the No. 38 andAlex Labbé driving the No. 28. Addington and Brad Parrott, normally the crew chief of the No. 28 car, switched cars for these races with Addington crew chiefing the No. 28 driven by Labbé and Parrott crew chiefing the No. 38 driven by Kyle Sieg.[16]
Addington was born inSpartanburg, South Carolina. As a kid, he was a fan of dirt track races. At age 14, Addington's mother remarried and then the family moved toBatesville, Arkansas where his stepfather began working forMark Martin.[citation needed]
Although his stepfather worked in racing, Addington preferred to play football as a child. He graduated fromCentral High School in Texas and moved back to Spartanburg. Addington's start in racing came as he helped friends compete in dirt cars.[17]
Addington has a daughter named Ashlyn. He left qualifying early for the June 2008 race atDover to attend Ashlyn's graduation fromBoiling Springs High School inBoiling Springs, South Carolina.[3] He also has another child who was born in October 2013. Because the baby was about to be born around the time of the race at Talladega that month, Addington did not crew chief the No. 14 SHR car in that race.[10]
.@GZipadelli will serve as crew chief for the No. 14 today bc Steve Addington is headed home for birth of his child (Via @StewartHaasRcng)
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