2nd July
Steve Waid from SceneDaily.com: Seems Kyle Busch won’t have any problem hooking up with a quality Nextel Cup team for next season. There’s plenty of interest from several organizations that know the 22-year-old is very talented and likely to be one of NASCAR’s top stars in the years ahead.
The word is that Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc., Ginn Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Evernham Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Penske Racing and Robert Yates Racing have expressed an interest in Busch.
Whew!
Rumor had it Busch would narrow his choices down to four teams by this past weekend. He’s said he would like to have a few more conversations, get a deal done and move on.
2nd July
Brendan A. McGrail from TELEGRAM & GAZETTE: “Penske would be stupid not to look at Kyle, so that talk is under way,” Kurt said in a national teleconference last week. But Kyle later said, “Penske is not one that I’ve sat down and talked to.”
He has stated very clearly he wants to be part of a competitive team. He has not said, however, that he insists on being on a Nextel Cup team.
“I’m looking forward to being able to hear from McLaren,” he said. McLaren, of course, is one of the top teams in Formula 1 racing.
Busch has also made it clear that he’s not in any hurry. While teams are rushing to sign big-name drivers to keep big-name sponsors, Busch wants to take his time and make sure he finds the right fit.
June 29
Joe Menzer from NASCAR.COM: Kyle Busch said he knows what he wants for Kyle Busch when it comes to the driver’s future.
And what he said he wants is to drive for an organization that will back him completely, in public and behind closed doors. He indicated that he isn’t sure he always has received that kind of support from Hendrick Motorsports.
“[I want] somebody looking out for Kyle Busch. Somebody that will back me, somebody that will, you know, I guess back me up when I’m right—and when I’m wrong, take me off to the side and sit me down and tell me,” Busch said Friday at New Hampshire International Speedway, where he was preparing for Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 300. “Just an organization that will be to the point, and tell you to your face. I don’t need somebody or something where people will be sort of two-faced, telling you that you’re great and this and that and everything else, and then go behind closed doors and tell somebody else, ‘Man, he’s out of control. What are we doing? This, that and whatever.’
June 29
Shawn Courchesne from courant.com: Asked if he felt that was something he didn’t get at Hendrick, Busch wavered.
“No, I don’t feel, . . . I didn’t see it but I’ve heard it so I’d rather just look and find somebody that does stand behind me, that I know stands behind me, that I hear it from everybody that they’re standing behind me and everything like that instead of hearing it through the grapevine that there’s different things being said,” Busch said.
Busch understands that he can’t be as choosy about factors with a team as Earnhardt, arguably the most popular driver in the sport.
“The competition of course is number one,” Busch said. “Dale Earnhardt, Jr. we have to remember is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He can sell a chocolate popsicle to a woman in a white dress. It’s easy.
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