The 43 Days of Daytona - 10th Place in 2005
Over the 43 days leading up to the Daytona 500, I'll be doing a short review/preview of the Top 43 Drivers of 2005.
---------------
Kurt Busch
#2 - Miller Lite
Kurt ran the full season last year in the Roush Racing #97-Rubbermaid/Sharpie Ford. He had 3 wins, 9 Top 5's, and 18 Top 10's. His winnings totaled $6,516,320.
His championship defense last year didn't turn out quite like he or Jack Roush planned. By the end of the season, Busch was entertaining alternative offers and Roush was out signing Jamie McMurray to take Busch's Roush seat. It seems odd to me that a defending Cup champion changes teams in his title defense year. Busch eventually signed with Penske South to replace the retiring Rusty Wallace.
Then, there is the whole drunk driving issue at Phoenix at the end of the season.
That's all past now though.
Now, he is in the Penske South Miller Lite car vacated by Rusty Wallace when he retired at the end of last season. Considering the relationship between Rusty and his Penske teammate Ryan Newman, this has to be a win for Penske. Teammates who can get along, ...provided these two volatile personalities can get along for an extended time, will be good for Penske South.
Busch had cosmetic surgery to have his ears altered to fit back against his head more. Uhm...okay.
Word has it that both Penske South entrants will be driving 2004 model Dodge Intrepids at California Speedway and Las Vegas Motorspeedway. This comes as Daimler-Chrysler-Dodge is trying to work out with their drivers about the new nose for the 2006 Dodge Charger that has yet to be provided to NASCAR for approval. Both the '05 and '06 models are approved for use by NASCAR...this makes me suspect that Penske is taking one more step toward positioning themselves to be one of the teams that jumps to the Toyota Camry when it comes aboard next season.
Will sponsorship be big enough to allow the team to field a car every week? Yes. The Miller Lite sponsorship is another of those high quality deals. This one is solid.
Do I think he could go win a championship? I do not believe that Kurt Busch will be solidly in the hunt for a championship this season. He may be in the Chase for the Championship and I recognize that anything may happen if you make the Chase, but I just don't have that feeling for Kurt this year. Maybe next time.
Do I think he could win a race or two and have a good season? Yes. Maybe 2 or even 3.
---------------
Kurt Busch
#2 - Miller Lite
Kurt ran the full season last year in the Roush Racing #97-Rubbermaid/Sharpie Ford. He had 3 wins, 9 Top 5's, and 18 Top 10's. His winnings totaled $6,516,320.
His championship defense last year didn't turn out quite like he or Jack Roush planned. By the end of the season, Busch was entertaining alternative offers and Roush was out signing Jamie McMurray to take Busch's Roush seat. It seems odd to me that a defending Cup champion changes teams in his title defense year. Busch eventually signed with Penske South to replace the retiring Rusty Wallace.
Then, there is the whole drunk driving issue at Phoenix at the end of the season.
That's all past now though.
Now, he is in the Penske South Miller Lite car vacated by Rusty Wallace when he retired at the end of last season. Considering the relationship between Rusty and his Penske teammate Ryan Newman, this has to be a win for Penske. Teammates who can get along, ...provided these two volatile personalities can get along for an extended time, will be good for Penske South.
Busch had cosmetic surgery to have his ears altered to fit back against his head more. Uhm...okay.
Word has it that both Penske South entrants will be driving 2004 model Dodge Intrepids at California Speedway and Las Vegas Motorspeedway. This comes as Daimler-Chrysler-Dodge is trying to work out with their drivers about the new nose for the 2006 Dodge Charger that has yet to be provided to NASCAR for approval. Both the '05 and '06 models are approved for use by NASCAR...this makes me suspect that Penske is taking one more step toward positioning themselves to be one of the teams that jumps to the Toyota Camry when it comes aboard next season.
Will sponsorship be big enough to allow the team to field a car every week? Yes. The Miller Lite sponsorship is another of those high quality deals. This one is solid.
Do I think he could go win a championship? I do not believe that Kurt Busch will be solidly in the hunt for a championship this season. He may be in the Chase for the Championship and I recognize that anything may happen if you make the Chase, but I just don't have that feeling for Kurt this year. Maybe next time.
Do I think he could win a race or two and have a good season? Yes. Maybe 2 or even 3.
posted by Mark "Puff" Anderson | 1:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home