Phoenix Racing, Kyle Busch truck teams lose Miccosukee sponsorships
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Phoenix Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports are looking for sponsorship after the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians dropped its support of the programs, officials from both teams said Friday. The tribe had used racing to promote its resort and casino.
Phoenix Racing owner James Finch said Friday morning he still plans to run a full Nationwide Series schedule with James Buescher but whether he can run full Sprint Cup races with Aric Almirola is up in the air. He said the team will run the entire Daytona 500 if Almirola makes the field.
“We’ll see how we do here in the 500,” Finch said about the Cup program while in the pits at Daytona International Speedway. “We’ll go to the first five. We’re prepared to race the 500 if we can be fortunate enough to qualify.”
Finch, whose team won the April 2009 Sprint Cup race at Talladega with driver Brad Keselowski, gets its engines from Hendrick Motorsports.
Losing his sponsor means this will be a big weekend for Finch, with Buescher in the Automobile Racing Club of America race. Buescher won the ARCA race at Daytona last year..
“It’s a big weekend,” Finch said. “We’re going to get James as much seat time as we can and Aric will drive the Cup deal and see what we can do there.”
A team spokesman for Kyle Busch said the organization still plans on running two trucks the entire season and plans to have a sponsor for the Daytona race to replace Miccosukee.
