Roger Penske says Kurt Busch departure an amicable, business decision
Penske Racing talks about parting with driver Kurt Busch following last season. // Sam Cranston, NASCAR Illustrated
CONCORD, N.C. – Roger Penske termed the release of Kurt Busch as a “business decision” as he talked about the future of Penske Racing Thursday.
Penske, in his first public comments beyond a written statement following the release of Busch in December, said he wrote Busch a letter last week and looks forward to shaking his hand at Daytona.
Busch was released from Penske’s team following last season after a series of emotional outbursts both inside and outside his car, including cursing at an ESPN reporter outside his garage following the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
A couple of weeks after Homestead, Busch was without a job. He eventually landed at Phoenix Racing, a much smaller one-car program than the two-car Penske operation that put both of its cars in the Chase For The Sprint Cup in 2011.
“At the end of the day, this was about two people in business that maybe disagreed on certain parts of the business,” Penske said Thursday during the team’s portion of the Sprint Media Tour. “He decided that he wanted to go his way and I did mine.
“Obviously people can write a story and say it was behavior and things like that. There were some things he said over time he wished he didn’t, and I’ve done the same thing.”
Busch had been frustrated at times throughout the season with the Penske performance. Even though he had made the Chase, Busch had a season filled with inconsistency.
“We ended the season, we had been in the Chase, he is one of the very best drivers [and] I think he felt that maybe we weren’t delivering everything he wanted because there had been some issues,” Penske said. “We had obviously the unfortunate situation that took place down at Homestead.
“I think it was just that at the end of the day, we looked each other in the eye and said, ‘Look, why don’t we go our own ways?’”
Penske indicated there weren’t many hard feelings.
“It was done amicably, there were no lawyers, it was strictly shaking hands and saying, ‘You’ll go your way and I’ll go mine,’” Penske said. “I think that was a great way to end it.
“In fact, I sent him a letter the other day – I’m looking forward to shaking his hand when I see him at Daytona. So he’s a friend of mine, he did a great job for us, won races and I’m not looking back. I’m going forward.”
Going forward meant getting AJ Allmendinger from Richard Petty Motorsports. Petty called Penske to let him know Allmendinger was available because RPM lacked sponsorship for him.
“This is a big sport and people move to teams,” Penske said. “[Busch] was fast at Daytona [in the test]. He’ll be a guy that is going to be tough to beat. He’s teaming up with his brother in Nationwide.
“He’s landed right on his feet, and we’re ready to go with AJ.”
