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Sprint Cup
CUP: Kurt Busch Going ‘Old School’ With Phoenix Racing
Kurt Busch will drive the No. 51 Chevrolet next season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series...
Kurt Busch will turn laps for Phoenix Racing in 2012. (Photo: Getty Images)
Kurt Busch will remain in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2012.
He just won’t be with the organization where it was widely speculated he might land.
Busch, who parted ways with Penske Racing earlier this month in what the parties involved called a mutual separation, has joined forces with Phoenix Racing and will drive the organization’s No. 51 Chevrolet full time next season.
The team formally announced its hiring of the 2004 Sprint Cup Series champion late Thursday evening following earlier reports that Busch had met with team owner James Finch on Wednesday night and committed to come on board.
Busch’s unofficial debut in the No. 51 will come in the Budweiser Shootout exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 18. No sponsorship details for the No. 51 car were announced.
“James Finch has always had pretty stout cars for the restrictor-plate races and I know we’ll be very competitive at Daytona,” said Busch, the 2011 winner of the non-points event. “We’ll participate in the test down there in January to get a good handle on our Daytona 500 car, but also to win another Budweiser Shootout.
“Christmas came early for me this year, and I honestly can’t wait for the season to begin.”
Busch had been considered a likely candidate for the No. 43 Ford of Richard Petty Motorsports, and the possibility of a Busch-RPM marriage seemed to gain additional steam when RPM announced Wednesday that AJ Allmendinger had vacated his post with the No. 43 car for Busch’s old ride at Penske Racing.
But with Best Buy having announced plans to move its sponsorship from RPM to Roush Fenway Racing in 2012, Busch opted for Phoenix Racing – a single-car organization that has struggled for years to find its footing in NASCAR’s top series.
One of the few bright spots came in 2009, when Brad Keselowski gave the team its first and still-only Sprint Cup Series victory in the spring race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Finch, however, is confident that Busch — a 2011 Chase driver and winner of 24 Sprint Cup races — can elevate the Spartanburg, S.C.-based outfit to a new level.
“All we want to do is win,” Finch said. “Winning is why I’ve been in racing for as long as I have, but NASCAR is a very competitive sport, and winning – especially at the Sprint Cup level – is hard. But now with Kurt Busch as our driver, we have a shot to win every week. He’s a past champion and he’s proven he can win everywhere. Our sponsors are looking forward to Kurt representing their brands.
“We have excellent equipment and a hard-working group of guys who want that trophy at the end of every race. Kurt’s the guy who can deliver it to them.”
Finch welcomes Busch into the fold despite the 33-year-old’s reputation for heated exchanges with former crew chiefs, and a 2011 season marred by confrontations with team members, competitors and even members of the media.
Busch’s final ill-advised action was a profanity-laced tired against ESPN reporter Jerry Punch after dropping out of the 2011 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Prior to exiting the event with a blown transmission, Busch was also seen making an obscene hand gesture. The combination subsequently earned him a $50,000 fine from NASCAR.
Busch revealed during Champion’s Week activities in Las Vegas that he is seeing a sports psychologist in hopes of getting a better handle on his emotions.
With a new team, Busch will have an opportunity to show if 2012 is truly a new beginning.
“I’m very happy to join Phoenix Racing, and after entertaining a lot of quality offers, there’s no better place for me,” he said. “We’re going to run the full schedule together, and we’re going to have fun doing it.
“It’s going to be old-school racing, where we show up, race hard and go for the win. And if we don’t win, we’ll go back to the shop, work hard and do it all over again next week. That’s the way we all started racing, and it’s great to get back to that.”
Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.
He just won’t be with the organization where it was widely speculated he might land.
Busch, who parted ways with Penske Racing earlier this month in what the parties involved called a mutual separation, has joined forces with Phoenix Racing and will drive the organization’s No. 51 Chevrolet full time next season.
The team formally announced its hiring of the 2004 Sprint Cup Series champion late Thursday evening following earlier reports that Busch had met with team owner James Finch on Wednesday night and committed to come on board.
Busch’s unofficial debut in the No. 51 will come in the Budweiser Shootout exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 18. No sponsorship details for the No. 51 car were announced.
“James Finch has always had pretty stout cars for the restrictor-plate races and I know we’ll be very competitive at Daytona,” said Busch, the 2011 winner of the non-points event. “We’ll participate in the test down there in January to get a good handle on our Daytona 500 car, but also to win another Budweiser Shootout.
“Christmas came early for me this year, and I honestly can’t wait for the season to begin.”
Busch had been considered a likely candidate for the No. 43 Ford of Richard Petty Motorsports, and the possibility of a Busch-RPM marriage seemed to gain additional steam when RPM announced Wednesday that AJ Allmendinger had vacated his post with the No. 43 car for Busch’s old ride at Penske Racing.
But with Best Buy having announced plans to move its sponsorship from RPM to Roush Fenway Racing in 2012, Busch opted for Phoenix Racing – a single-car organization that has struggled for years to find its footing in NASCAR’s top series.
One of the few bright spots came in 2009, when Brad Keselowski gave the team its first and still-only Sprint Cup Series victory in the spring race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Finch, however, is confident that Busch — a 2011 Chase driver and winner of 24 Sprint Cup races — can elevate the Spartanburg, S.C.-based outfit to a new level.
“All we want to do is win,” Finch said. “Winning is why I’ve been in racing for as long as I have, but NASCAR is a very competitive sport, and winning – especially at the Sprint Cup level – is hard. But now with Kurt Busch as our driver, we have a shot to win every week. He’s a past champion and he’s proven he can win everywhere. Our sponsors are looking forward to Kurt representing their brands.
“We have excellent equipment and a hard-working group of guys who want that trophy at the end of every race. Kurt’s the guy who can deliver it to them.”
Finch welcomes Busch into the fold despite the 33-year-old’s reputation for heated exchanges with former crew chiefs, and a 2011 season marred by confrontations with team members, competitors and even members of the media.
Busch’s final ill-advised action was a profanity-laced tired against ESPN reporter Jerry Punch after dropping out of the 2011 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Prior to exiting the event with a blown transmission, Busch was also seen making an obscene hand gesture. The combination subsequently earned him a $50,000 fine from NASCAR.
Busch revealed during Champion’s Week activities in Las Vegas that he is seeing a sports psychologist in hopes of getting a better handle on his emotions.
With a new team, Busch will have an opportunity to show if 2012 is truly a new beginning.
“I’m very happy to join Phoenix Racing, and after entertaining a lot of quality offers, there’s no better place for me,” he said. “We’re going to run the full schedule together, and we’re going to have fun doing it.
“It’s going to be old-school racing, where we show up, race hard and go for the win. And if we don’t win, we’ll go back to the shop, work hard and do it all over again next week. That’s the way we all started racing, and it’s great to get back to that.”
Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.
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