Backseat Blonde - Doh! Busch’s Defection is All About Toyota

August 11, 2005

Doh! Busch’s Defection is All About Toyota
By Allison Wagda

I just figured it out. Toyota is going with Penske in '07. Or
maybe even next year.

That’s why Kurt Busch stabbed his car owner and
acknowledged mentor in the back. That has to be it.

Why else would any driver in their right mind, loyalty aside, toss away what is
arguably one of the best rides in all of NASCAR?

At Roush, he has the equipment. He has the support of his owner. He has Jimmy
Fenig (at least for now). He has a score of teammates who let him lead laps for
bonus points when they are faster. Even his sponsors, for some inexplicable reason,
seem to like him.

Enter Toyota, stage left.

Now, it isn’t that much of a revelation that Penske could be, and even likely would be,
one of the teams Toyota would use to launch itself into the NASCAR stratosphere.
Penske races Toyota in the IRL. But this latest news from Kurt Busch absolutely
confirms it, in my opinion.

It’s the only thing that makes sense. Toyota’s arrival is imminent, perhaps even in
2006 (remember, when Brian France spoke with the media in June, he refused to
say that Toyota couldn’t join in 2006 even if they missed the July 1st deadline).

Toyota’s corporate group is very savvy about the racing world – at least in the racing
world outside of American stock cars. And they know that champions sell products.
As with any sports sponsorship, sponsoring a champion usually adds cache to your
product. People usually like to root for winners. Although a Chase title doesn’t exactly
equate to a winning season or huge numbers of adoring fans…but I digress.

In NASCAR, there are few past champions to choose from. Tony Stewart? Firmly
ensconced at JGR and already probably has more money than money could buy.
Plus, he’s a guy who moved back to his childhood home recently. Not even just his
hometown mind you, but actually into his old modest home. That’s a man who is not
(at least these days) for sale.

Kenseth? Not a contender right now (emphasis on right now) mired back in 15th in
the standings, and is perhaps too staid for Toyota’s taste. Gordon? Unless Hendrick
can be bought into the Toyota camp, I don’t see Gordon driving a Celica or whatever
Toyota hopes to race. His business interests are too closely tied to Rick.

And the only person without a title who could make Toyota salivate would be Dale Jr,
and he’s not going to go to Penske. RCR maybe someday, but not Penske and not
Miller Lite. Not to say DEI won’t make the switch to Toyota but that’s another story for
another day.

Also, the timing of this announcement is suspect. Why not wait until the end of the
season to make it? Busch has to know this will harm his chances at back-to-back
titles. There has to be some particularly pressing reason this had to be announced
now. Otherwise it could have been a dirty little secret...even if they did tell Roush now
so he could start to plan for next year early. This has to be a set-up for Toyota.

But why would Busch be so eager to join a Penske/Toyota combo?

I’ve already written about how I feel about Toyota’s entrance into NASCAR, and the
effect they could have on the sport. This is only the first indication of how the dynamic
is set to change. It is all about the money.

In order to facilitate Kurt’s defection, they probably offered him more, much more,
money than he gets from Roush. More than Roush would even be prepared to pay a
possible two-time champion (Busch, after all, is a virtual lock for the Chase free-for-
all) when renegotiations came up next season.

Also, any teams that jump on the Toyota bandwagon are bound to benefit from a
flurry of free publicity. For a driver who has yet to be embraced by many NASCAR
fans, that could be a significant inducement. And if Miller stays on as sponsor of the
#2, Busch would become the driver of one of the “beer cars,” often an enviable
position associated with being “cool.”

Personally, I think it could end up backfiring for Busch.

For one, he didn’t play fair. His contract wasn’t up for renewal for another year. I
believe he essentially went behind Jack’s back and struck a preemptive deal on the
sly – not giving Roush an opportunity to negotiate, a move that shows just how
deceptive this sport is becoming. Toyota’s influence?

Then Busch “asks” for an early exit to the contract, knowing that sponsors don’t want
a driver not committed to them. Very, very sneaky.

(And before y’all castigate me for picking on Busch and not likewise criticizing Jamie
Mac., there are very key differences between the two situations. Jamie IS in his last
year on his contract…Chip Ganassi had an option for another year but was stalling
on picking it up. McMurray had every right to be looking elsewhere not knowing if he
had a ride for ‘06…and to like what he saw elsewhere better. When Ganassi saw
that another owner got the best of him, he retaliated by picking up the until-then un-
optioned option.)

So this move could further some of the antagonism of some fans against Busch.
He’s not a fan favorite as it is, and there are a whole lot of folks unhappy about the
idea of a Japanese invasion. Not exactly an endearing move.

But Toyota aside, the #2 Miller Lite car hasn’t been burning up the track the last few
years. Granted Rusty Wallace is currently fourth in the standings. But his car hasn’t
taken the checkers since Martinsville last year, and before that he had a dry spell that
had critics wondering if he’d ever see it again. In 2004 he ended up 16th in the
standing. 2003? 14th.

Yet we all know Wallace can drive, and win. Does anyone really believe Kurt Busch is
a better racer? Could Busch have won races in the same equipment? I mean, let’s
be real here.

So at best, Busch is taking a chance on Toyota pumping enough cash into Penske
that he’ll have top equipment that can actually win. The current status quo over at the
Penske organization, even with a hefty pay increase, wouldn’t, or at least shouldn't,
be enough to cause a driver bent on winning to betray the man who made him.

As for Toyota, if I happen to be right and they truly are the cause of this silliest of silly
seasons, I hope they don’t expect loyalty from the fans. One of the reasons I related
to NASCAR when I first became a fan was how normal and grounded the drivers
seemed. Teams were more than one man. A handshake meant something. Maybe
not everything, but something. While in the NFL, NBA and baseball, contracts are
made to be broken and athletes are an island out only for themselves.

If that’s the new NASCAR According to Toyota, we’ll have lost one of the few
remaining things that made our sport special.

Extra - Interesting comments from Busch just a few short months ago in a media
teleconference (March, 2005)…questions are from reporters:

Q. Couple years ago some controversy rolled into Bristol. I remember Jack Roush
kind of taking up for you. Can you talk about the role that Jack has played in your
developing into a champion? What do you think sets him apart from other car
owners?

KURT BUSCH: What he did early on was recognize the fact that I knew nothing. I
came from late model racing just a couple years before I got into Cup. I had so
much to learn. He just threw me in there with the sharks and then he realized that I
made mistakes, I was admitting to him that I needed some help. He's been such a
mentor to me off the track, different scenarios, business-wise, as well as what he
thought he could see as a driver in me.

I didn't know what my potential was, but he saw it there. He's definitely helped me
take one lap at a time, one race at a time and one season at a time to get to this
point. So from a dismal rookie year all the way to a championship, Jack Roush has
definitely helped me out.

Q. What sets Jack apart from some of the other owners? Have you seen maybe how
people view him change over these last two years with this tremendous success you
guys have enjoyed?

KURT BUSCH: He's always had the fans' loyalty for Ford Motor Company. What he
didn't have was the respect of the other competitors because he is such a hard-
nosed racer. What makes him that way is he's hands-on. He's a very hands-on
owner, one you see in the garage area all the time. He's actually always checking
the jets on the carburetors, trying to make the teams better. So he's a different breed
from most car owners, but what that does is it brings him closer to the teams. When
he's got the right people in place, good things have happened.

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