Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Kyle Busch to part with NASCAR’s Roush Racing

Kyle Busch will not follow the same path his older brother Kurt took to stardom in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series -- at least not with Roush Racing.

Busch, 17, said Monday that he no longer is employed by Roush Racing, for which he drove six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races in 2001 and a full American Speed Association schedule last summer. Busch had been scheduled to return to the NCTS with Roush following his 18th birthday in May.

On Monday, Roush announced that the team had hired Carl Edwards to drive the No. 99 Ford truck for the entire 2003 season.

"Kyle has decided to pursue other opportunities in racing," a Roush Racing spokesperson said Monday. "Kyle is not under contract with Roush; because he is not 18, he legally could not sign a contract."

Kyle Busch said he hoped to make an announcement "in a couple of days" about his future in racing and would only say that it would be "plenty of good news for me -- especially in 2004."

The Sun has learned that Busch has an offer to drive for an "quality" NASCAR Busch Series team and could compete in selected races this season in preparation for a full-time Busch Series schedule in 2004.

Tom Busch, Kyle's father, said he learned last Friday that Roush would not hold the No. 99 Truck Series ride open for Busch until he turned 18 on May 2.

"They flew us to Lakeland, Florida, last month and Kurt was there and Jon Wood was there and we spent two days testing the truck and it went really well," Tom Busch said. "We didn't know until Friday that he wouldn't be (driving) the No. 99 truck."

Although he would not elaborate on his son's plans for this year, the elder Busch said Kyle would be racing shortly after his 18th birthday.

"The good news is that there will be a big announcement but I don't know if it will be (made in) two days or two weeks," he said. "We have something really good going but everything we've got going will be part-time (this season).

"We've got a car owner that's interested ... it's just that he wanted to let the sponsor take its course and decide on how and when it would be announced."

Roush Racing owner Jack Roush hired Kurt Busch in the fall of 1999 to drive the No. 99 truck in the NCTS. Busch won four races and the Rookie of the Year award in 2000 and then made seven NASCAR Winston Cup Series starts at the end of the 2000 season. Busch struggled through a rough rookie season in the Winston Cup Series in 2001 before breaking through last year with four wins and a third-place finish in the points.

Kyle Busch was expected to follow the same path to the Winston Cup Series as his brother after Roush auditioned the 16-year-old in 2001 in the No. 99 truck. Busch made his first start at Indianapolis Raceway Park in August 2001, and finished a respectable ninth.

After another ninth-place finish in the NCTS race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that October, Busch was prohibited from driving in the truck race at California Speedway three weeks later when the tobacco company that sponsored the race weekend objected to a 16-year-old competing.

NASCAR enacted a rule in December 2001 that mandated drivers in all NASCAR touring series must be 18 or older in order to compete, which forced Busch out of the truck last year. Busch spent last season driving in the ASA series, where he earned four top-five finishes and took eighth in points.

Roush Racing on Monday announced that Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth both have signed multi-year contracts to continue driving for Roush Racing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

"Jack Roush put me on an accelerated program, found (crew chief) Jimmy Fennig to lead my team, found Newell Rubbermaid to fund us and continues to give us everything we need to compete at the championship level," Busch said. "Both Jimmy and I have signed up for the long haul and very much want to win Roush Racing's first Winston Cup championship."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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