Kurt Busch’s crew chief Tony Gibson could miss a portion of the upcoming race weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway following emergency appendectomy surgery Tuesday.
Kurt Busch’s crew chief undergoes emergency surgery
Tony Gibson is not expected to miss New Hampshire, but his arrival may be delayed.
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed to SB Nation that Gibson plans on being at the track “as soon as he’s able, which could be as early as Friday or as late as Saturday afternoon,” a team spokesman said.
The No. 41 team’s engineer, John Klausmeier, will serve as interim crew chief. SHR vice president of competition Greg Zipadelli will also have an increased presence in Gibson’s absence. Klausmeier filled in when Gibson missed the April Bristol race with kidney stones.
New Hampshire is the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship playoff, which Busch qualified for on the strength of two regular-season victories. He nearly won the Chase opener Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, leading comfortably before a caution with eight laps to go tightened the field. On the ensuing restart Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards passed Busch, who finished third.
Busch is fifth in points with two races remaining before the 16-driver playoff field is cut by four.
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