The team owner for Phoenix Racing, James Finch, said he will meet with Kurt Busch next Tuesday to discuss the drivers future with the team. Busch had signed on to drive the #51 Chevrolet on a one year deal. At the time of the deal Finch said that “He (Busch) can’t quit and I can’t fire him.”
Busch had hoped he could fix up his image during his time with Finch and had been working with his girlfriend Patrica Driscoll to support members of the armed services.
Busch was suspended for the coming weekend at Pocono after comments directed to reporter Bob Pockrass following a fourth place run in Saturday’s Nationwide race. This comes after Busch had been placed on probation and fined $50,000 after during a burnout though Ryan Newman’s pitstall at Darlington. In addition to the suspension for the coming weekend the probation of Busch has been extended to the end of the year.
Prior to joining Phoenix Racing it was rumored that Busch was being courted by Richard Petty Motorsports. That idea was apparently squashed by Jack Roush who previously employed Busch and supplies RPM with parts to field their two cars.
Faced with little interest on the behalf of sponsors and few teams willing to take the risk on him Busch joined Finch for an underfunded effort.
Sure Busch needs to rebuild his image if he is ever to get a top ride and sponsor backing but Finch needs to show that his cars are competitive if he plans to ever be more then an underfunded team vying for middle of the pack status.
Last year Landon Cassill drove for Finch. The car ranked 30th in the final owner standings and never recorded a top-ten finish. Thirteen races into this year, even with some tough luck, the car is 26th in the standings and has already cracked the top-ten.
The two sides may part ways on when they meet Tuesday but if they do it’s ultimately a lose-lose. Busch will have accomplished nothing in his pursuit to fix his image. Finch does not improve the position of his race team and in part loses part of the tough guy who can make anyone race for him.
Both men took to this situation as an all in. They both knew that the results were not going to match what Busch had experienced at Roush or Penske but figured each could help the other. Now with almost two-thirds of season left they still need earch other.
