Kyle, Off To Gibbs In 2008, Is Determined To Go Out With A Bang

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Kyle Busch knows he probably won’t win The Chase. After all, he is sixth in points 290 points out of first place after finishing fourth in Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Subway 500.
But Busch has already won something just as valuable and that’s the respect of his fellow drivers over the way he’s handled himself over the last half of the season.
It would have been easy for the 22-year-old younger brother of 2004 champion Kurt Busch to pack it in after he was told in June that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. would take over his ride in 2008.
Many consider Busch to be the better driver of the two, although he is nowhere near as popular as the son of seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.
Team owner Rick Hendrick couldn’t pass on the marketing opportunities that Earnhardt brings his team in terms of sponsorship and attention, so when negotiations with Busch became heated, he was the driver that was pushed aside.
But instead of packing it in, Busch toughed it out. He has handled himself professionally, has matured as a person and has gained the respect of fellow Hendrick drivers who at one time would have been more than happy to see him go to his new team, Joe Gibbs Racing, where he will be teammates with Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin beginning next season.
“I’m extremely impressed,” said defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. “In working with Kyle over the years, I’ve always seen a guy that wants to do good and wants to be a champion and wants to be a race winner and loved working for Hendrick Motorsports. He’s done a lot of growing and maturing. Unfortunately, he’s done all of his growing in front of cameras and national media and has made some mistakes, but we’re all seeing that progress.”
At 36, Jeff Gordon is the elder statesman of the team, but, like Busch, he was also a child star in NASCAR. The young Gordon of the 1990s was known for moments of immaturity and often played the blame game when things didn’t go his way on the race track.
“I’ve gotten to know Kyle just good enough to know that he’s a really good guy,” Gordon said. “He always means well, he always is trying to go out there and do things that he would be proud of and other people would be proud of, but that doesn’t always come across that way. So, call it misunderstood, call it make a few mistakes, whatever it may be.
“I think that because those things came sporadically, you weren’t exactly sure how it was going to go down and I think the first couple weeks were still a little touch and go but since then, and I don’t know exactly what it is that’s transpired, but I was with Rick (Hendrick) this week and both of us were talking about how impressed we are with the way he’s been handling himself.”
Busch has regained the respect of Hendrick, who had to make the ultimate decision to choose Earnhardt and let the talented Busch go.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a situation in my 25 years where a guy knew he was going somewhere else, and has stayed focused and determined to do the best he can.”