December 16, 2011
By Rebecca Gladden
When the announcement was made earlier this month that Kurt Busch was leaving Penske Racing, his racing home since 2006, I had a spirited discussion with a media colleague regarding how long it would take for Busch to land a new Cup ride -- if it happened at all.
Busch's departure, described as a "mutual agreement" between driver and organization, came on the heels of a viral video that showed Busch ranting and swearing in the garage at Homestead-Miami Speedway after experiencing mechanical troubles with the No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge, just a few laps into the Sprint Cup Series season finale in November.
Many who watched the video were incensed by Busch's behavior toward ESPN pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch, who was standing by to interview the driver on live TV. Particularly disturbing was Busch's use of a vulgar phrase involving the f-word when referring to Dr. Punch.
The incident at Homestead, while likely the immediate catalyst for Busch's departure from Penske, was only the most recent in a long series of ugly incidents involving Busch during his Cup racing career. When he left Roush Racing with two races left in the 2005 season after a traffic citation for reckless driving, a spokesman for the team famously stated that the team was "officially retiring as Kurt Busch's apologists."
Still, despite these incidents and others, and a widely held perception of Busch as arrogant, unpopular and unlikeable, I didn't hesitate to tell my media friend that I fully expected the driver to be in a Cup ride in 2012 -- something which he argued would never happen under the circumstances.
This week, rumors surfaced linking Busch to at least two teams -- Richard Petty Motorsports and Phoenix Racing. Though nothing has been formally announced yet, it's clear that Busch is not the pariah many fans and pundits predicted he would be following his recent public relations blunders.
The reason I was so confident that this would be the case is simple: to borrow a phrase made famous this year by actor Charlie Sheen, Kurt Busch is … duh, winning!
The fact is, Kurt Busch knows how to win races. The 2004 Cup Series Champion has won at least one race every year since 2002 -- 24 Cup wins in all -- and ranks fifth in career Cup victories among active drivers (behind Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Mark Martin). He won two races in 2011 and made the Chase for the fourth time in five seasons.
Busch has led over 7,000 laps in Cup races and, as a past champion, carries with him a past-champion's provisional that could prove extremely valuable to a team looking to make its mark in 2012.
Through the years, there have been many unlikeable, even detestable, athletes in all forms of sports. But, even in a family-friendly sport like NASCAR, performance ultimately trumps persona. What a potential sponsor is looking for in terms of return-on-investment is a driver who's going to put his car in Victory Lane on a consistent basis.
Like it or not, in professional sports, a winning record will always count for more than a winning personality.
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