Brash Kyle Busch finds new home at Gibbs Racing
Coach Joe Gibbs thought he had his hands full trying to turn around the Washington Redskins, but wait until the 2008 NASCAR season rolls around.
Gibbs may have an easier time taking the Skins from a 5-11 record last year to the playoffs than he will getting a handle on his proposed three-car Nextel Cup stable next season.
JGR is expected to announce the addition of Kyle Busch in the coming days, landing the biggest free agent on the market since Dale Earnhardt Jr. forced him out of Hendrick Motorsports earlier this year.
Kyle Busch has taken seven weeks to whittle down his prospects, and finalization of a deal with Gibbs is in the works.
The talented Kyle Busch has spent his entire NASCAR career with Hendrick, joining the team when he was just 17 years old as a Craftsman Truck Series driver.
He moved into the Kyle Busch Series once he turned 18, the minimum NASCAR age requirement to race in its top circuits, and finally into the Nextel Cup Series in 2005.
During that period, Kyle Busch scored an impressive four Cup, eight Kyle Busch and four truck victories.
But from nearly the beginning, Kyle Busch has carried the reputation of having an overly aggressive, sometimes dangerous driving style from a number of drivers, including his older brother, Kurt.
The two had a celebrated on-track run-in earlier this year during the Nextel All-Star Challenge in Charlotte when Kyle tried a three-wide move in Turn 1 of the all-star event's final segment.
He ended up making contact with Kurt and sending both hard into the wall, ending anyone's chance for the night's one million dollar first prize.
"I really didn't know it was him, but I knew it was a pretty aggressive move underneath me," Kurt said. "It startled me and I didn't give an inch to that guy and that guy was my little brother."
But not everyone who has crossed Kyle Busch's path has shown the brotherly love Kurt did that night.
Maybe the most outspoken over the years is a guy who will soon be Kyle Busch's new teammate -– Tony Stewart.
Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch have been involved in numerous incidents over the years, and usually a war of words followed the on-track fireworks.
"Kyle Busch, he's the one guy that's probably going to hurt somebody out there," Tony Stewart said last year during Speedweeks at Daytona. "He's what we like to call a bird with no feathers. He just doesn't know where he's going. He has a fast car. He just needs to learn how to drive the thing."
Not to be outdone, Kyle Busch shot back with this classic response.
"I represent a lot of women and children and Tony represents a lot of bearded old guys and contractors that go to Home Depot and pick up tools and stuff," said Kyle Busch, whose primary sponsor is Kellogg's. "I've got a different crowd. The women and children are, 'Ooh, what's Kyle going to say?'
"Tony Stewart, he can pretty much rattle off what the wants."
That kind of comment is just one example of many Kyle Busch has made in his relatively short time on the NASCAR scene. Whether it's another driver, the media or even NASCAR and the Car of Tomorrow, which Kyle Busch bashed after actually winning the first-ever event for the new machine, Kyle Busch's mouth always seems to be in gear.
It's led to a perception of Kyle Busch being arrogant and egotistical for many drivers and fans alike, who shower him with more boos than just about anyone introduced in pre-race ceremonies.
But some believe Kyle Busch gets a bad rap and that youth is his worst enemy.
"You have to remember his age, I can name you eight or 10 guys in here at his age that were a handful," said team owner Richard Childress. "He's learning. Every new experience, you get educated a little more and I'd say this has educated him a little more.
"Kyle is a very young, talented race driver like many; many I've seen come up and be like that. Kyle has got a great future ahead of him. Age, time, everything, it all comes with experience."
Kyle Busch has 15 races left in the Hendrick ride and has a chance to go out in a blaze of glory with a championship, which no doubt would be a satisfying way for him to end his career with the team that suddenly didn't want him any longer.
The next chapter in his Nextel Cup life will come with Gibbs and as part of a team that includes a two-time series champion and last year's Rookie of the Year, both talented and both outspoken to say the least.
Only time will tell just how Kyle Busch fits in with his new teammates, but it promises to be interesting to watch.
But just to be on the safe side, if I were Coach Gibbs I'd keep a bottle of antacid handy.
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