‘Crazy week’ sees NASCAR crew chief go from victory lane to emergency room

From celebrating in the winner’s circle Sunday to unexpected surgery to remove kidney stones Wednesday, crew chief Tony Gibson’s week hasn’t lacked excitement.

On Sunday Gibson guided Kurt Busch to his first victory of 2015 and their first since being paired together late last season. Busch dominated the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway, leading 293 of 400 laps to snap a personal 35-race winless streak.

Three days later, Gibson was being wheeled into an operating room to undergo what he termed a “little surgery” for kidney stones. Gibson had thought he passed the stones two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway, which caused him to unexpectedly miss the Food City 500. But during a follow-up Tuesday where he underwent a CAT scan, doctors saw another “really big” stone -- measured at seven-millimeters -- lodged that would be too large for him to pass. Surgery was set for the next day.

“It’s been a crazy few weeks,” Gibson told SB Nation Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. “Victory Lane on Sunday, Tuesday I went in for a checkup to make sure I was OK, and then I end up having surgery Wednesday. I didn’t want to come here and have it move and have to end up in the hospital again.”

Kidney stones are something Gibson is quite familiar with, as this recent bout is the 16th time he’s dealt with the issue, a hereditary condition that just about everyone on his father’s side has experienced. On the same day he had his stones lasered, Gibson’s 16-year-old niece learned she, too, had kidney stones.

Despite “extreme soreness” Gibson never gave any thought of missing Sunday’s Geico 500. He’s accustomed to the discomfort and only went to an emergency room April 19 at Bristol because the pain was too great. Stewart-Haas Racing vice president of competition Greg Zipadelli and No. 41 team engineer John Klausmeyer filled in. Busch led 98 laps and finished 15th after being swept into a multi-car accident with five laps remaining.

“It killed me not to be on the box at Bristol, but I couldn’t stand the pain anymore,” Gibson said. “If I miss a race, it’s something bad.”

If there were a race for a crew chief to miss, Talladega is be a good option. Because of the draft that equalizes the field and prevents anyone from pulling away, a crew chief doesn’t have the same impact as they would most weeks in terms of strategy and finishing position,

The biggest influence a crew chief has at Talladega is determining how to best avoid the “big one” by either having their driver run up front or by staying in the back of the pack. Gibson’s plan is for Busch is be near the lead all afternoon if possible.

“I don’t like riding in the back,” Gibson said. “If I’m going to wreck, I’d rather be up front when I wreck. I don’t want to be floundering around in the back -- you can get caught up in something back there, too. Our strategy is to lead as many laps as we can lead, stay up front and miss the ‘big one.’

“It’s a crapshoot.”