Dear Jack Roush,

Although you are probably one of the top two most powerful and successful mega-team owners in NASCAR’s modern era, and I owe basically all of my success to you, I have decided to move on to a Penske Racing South, a team that has not won a championship in this racing series since 1989. I am a fool.

Sincerely,
Kurt Busch

Don’t get me wrong, I hate Penske with a passion. I always have. They are all that is wrong with NASCAR, they have a monopoly over winning races. They’ve turned NASCAR into a big show, and that show is called: Which team will win this week, Roush or Hendrick? No one else has a chance against these guys. Not even brilliant and hard working teams like Evernham Motorsports or Penske Racing. It’s not so much that Roush has more money into his race cars, he has the money to hire all of the pure talent like Kurt Busch. That kind of combination devastates everyone else. Well, it looks like the tables are turning, Mr. Roush. Busch can win without Jack, and I hope he does. This Roush dominance has to stop.

Isn’t this ironic. Penske Racing hopes that Busch will be able to buy out his contract and run the #2 Miller Lite Dodge in 2006, replacing veteran Rusty Wallace. Odd that Roush is now being put in the exact same position as he has put Chip Ganassi in, when he recently signed Jamie McMurray to replace retiring veteran Mark Martin. McMurray was signed by Roush to drive Martin’s #6 Ford in 2006, but just like Kurt Busch, his contract with Ganassi isn’t up until the end of 2006. Interesting coincidence we have here.

Current driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge is Rusty Wallace, who is retiring and says he will in no way shape or form come back in 2006. Mark Martin, who is also retiring, has agreed to run one more year if McMurray is not let out of his contract with Ganassi, which also runs thru 2006.

Think about if you put in a two weeks notice at your job, would you give it your regular best during those two remaining weeks? Some might, but most probably wouldn’t. Would Busch do his best at Roush for the next year and a half? Let’s face it, you basically leave your job mentally the moment you found out you were hired somewhere else. Even though we’re talking about full seasons here, millions of dollars, sponsorship deals, etc., I think that the same problem applies here, especially if Busch isn’t happy at Roush.

Here’s a clue. NASCAR.com has some quotes from Roush driver Matt Kenseth expressing a great deal of annoyance over Jamie McMurray’s recent signing for the #6 car. None of this deal was communicated to any of the Roush drivers, they had absolutely no say. I’m starting to see something here. Roush has grown so powerful that he doesn’t even care what his drivers think anymore. I mean, what do these punk kids he’s hiring know, he is their God and they should do what he says and never question him! Right? I can see that being the way things are at Roush, and I can see why Busch is leaving.

So Busch joins Ryan Newman, my favorite driver, at Penske, which is partially why this is such a big deal to me. Does this mean I have to start rooting for the guy I have rooted against for so long, because he is my favorite driver’s teammate? Like I said, he was a part of the dark side: Roush. But let me look at it this way: this is a sign of something going wrong at Roush, drivers are disgruntled, drivers are leaving, I should be rolling in happiness. And my favorite driver, Newman, is going to have a recent champion on his team, and not just some old fart (Rusty Wallace). I see a bright future ahead for Penske, and that makes me very happy.

What’s been wrong at Penske? Well, I’ve always gotten the vibe that Wallace is a know it all, wants to give advice and not receive it. There has been a lot of media attention that has basically given that fact, saying that the #2 and #12 car don’t ever share any information, because they hate each other’s guts. This is why Penske can’t win championships, there’s no teamwork at all. Unfortunately, in this era of NASCAR, you need to share information, you can’t depend on one driver to get the job done like you used to. I think that’s about to change now that Wallace is finally retiring. No more seniority at Penske, no more tension and division.

Well, I’ll admit it. I’m looking forward to seeing Busch in the #2 car. I really am.

This weekend is my big weekend up at the races in Brainerd, so I won’t be posting here like I usually do on the weekends. The weather looks like it’s going to be good, and that’s great news. I can’t wait, my favorite weekend of the year is finally here! So I’ll see you here next week sometime. Have a good weekend.

If it comes to that, I’ll have to make sure I do so without being a bandwagon jumper. I’ve been a big Ward Burton fan over the years but he’s moved to another team this season, and a new young guy named Scott Wimmer is driving for Ward’s old team. He’s allright I guess, and since he’s new and races for the same team and sponsor Ward used to, it wouldn’t be too odd of me to start rooting for him I guess. Plus I won’t have to replace all my CAT Racing stuff.

One of my pet peeves is people who run their mouth about things they know nothing about. Like NASCAR Racing for example. People will always come up and say “NASCAR isn’t even a sport. It’s just guys driving in circles.” Right… let’s put YOU in a car for 500 laps around Bristol and see how you feel at the end. Why do people who don’t know anything about NASCAR feel qualified to judge and comment on it?

Motorsports fans don’t jump in about other sports and say “it’s just a bunch of guys chasing a ball around, I don’t get it”, so why do stick & ball fans feel compelled to bring up the “going in circles” crap all the time? NASCAR is a sport. According to dictionary.com, the defintion of a sport is: “An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.”

Does this definition describe NASCAR? According to the definition you need physical exertion, skill, and rules & customs. Does NASCAR have these three things? Physical Exertion – Yes. The ability to endure driving 500 miles at the edge of control, constantly remaining mentally focused and consistent in the driving routine is definitely physically demanding. Skill – Yes. If it didn’t require any skill, then I guess anyone could do it. I think history has proven that is not the case since it is so highly competitve and teams pay high dollars for talented athletes just as in any other sport. Rules & Customs – There are probably more rules and regulations in NASCAR than in most sports. I don’t think anyone but the experts involved know everything about these rules, even the experts probably have to refer to some kind of manual or authority figure.

No one is asking you to like NASCAR, if it’s not entertaining to you, fine, no big deal! I don’t particularly like golf, but you don’t hear me running my mouth about it.