Easy decision: Driver Kyle Busch picks Gibbs

The driver ended a a busy
10-week negotiating period.

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Busch had no shortage of job opportunities when he lost his ride at Hendrick Motorsports. Some offered him tons of money, others offered him a chance to be a No. 1 driver.

In the end, only Joe Gibbs Racing offered him an immediate chance to win a Nextel Cup title. JGR teams have won three of the past seven championships.

Busch signed with Gibbs Tuesday, ending a busy 10-week negotiating period that began when Hendrick cast him aside to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“It was an easy decision after looking at all the prospects,” said Busch, who will replace J.J. Yeley in the No. 18 next season.

“The Nextel Cup series is filled with good teams and good people, but the moment I saw the shop and began talking with [the team], there was a level of comfort that made me feel like this is where I belong. I want to win races and championships, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s three-car⁄one-team philosophy gives me the best opportunity to do that.”

Didn’t fit in

Busch had an opportunity to win championships at Hendrick, where he’s won four races since joining the Cup series in 2005. But the stubborn and strong-willed 22-year-old was never a good fit in Hendrick’s corporate mold, and he was usually the outcast among his polished teammates.

He won’t have that problem at JGR, where he’ll be teamed with Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin — two drivers with reputations for being difficult.

Stewart has spent nine years conditioning upper management to accept obnoxious behavior so long as it accompanies success. He’s won two championships and 32 races, but has given the team years of heartburn through his aggression, terrible temper and unfiltered frankness.

Hamlin, in his second season of Cup racing, has proven to be unafraid to hold his ground and refused to back down last month when he tangled with Stewart on track at Daytona.

Now Busch will be in the mix, and he’s had his share of run-ins with Stewart in the past. But team president J.D. Gibbs said Stewart and Hamlin fully supported signing Busch, who received a three-year contract.

“We leaned a lot on Denny and Tony during this process,” J.D. Gibbs said. “Both of them said ‘Off the track and on the track, there is no one who has the talent this guy does and bringing him on board really gives us three guys who can win week in and week out.’ ”

Chemistry concerns

Busch now gives the team a talented but temperamental three-car lineup, a fact that wasn’t lost on owner Joe Gibbs. In a videotaped welcome from Washington Redskins training camp, Gibbs wished his son luck in dealing with the driver lineup.

“We’ve got Tony and the way Tony acts sometimes ... we found that Denny is no piece of cake, and now we’ve got Kyle Busch?” Gibbs quipped. “J.D., good luck.”

Financial terms of the deal were not released, but Gibbs joked he’ll have to coach another 10 years to afford to pay Busch. Jeff Dickerson, who represents Busch through Motorsports Management Inc., said the driver turned down more money from other teams to sign with Gibbs.

He also turned down opportunities to be the star of the team, including an offer to take over Earnhardt’s No. 8 car at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

“Going to DEI, that was definitely a possibility,” Busch said. “But being the leader of a team ... at 22 years of age, isn’t something I’m ready for.”