Kurt Busch Joins Phoenix Racing

Kurt Busch will be back in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series in 2012.

He's signed to drive with Phoenix Racing owned by James Finch, a 20-year veteran in NASCAR. 

The team, based in Spartanburg, SC has won 13 NASCAR races, the most prominent being Brad Keselowski's win in the April 2009 Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

"I just want to get back to having fun in the racecar," were Busch's words a few days after the 2011 season ended.  A winner of 24 Sprint Cup races--as well as the 2010 NASCAR Sprint All-Star race, the 2011 Gatorade Duel and the 2011 Budweiser Shootout non points-paying contests--Busch declared, "We're going to run the full schedule together and we're going to have fun doing it."

Busch will drive the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet Impala in 2012 and his first race will be non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway, where he is the defending winner. "I'm very happy to join Phoenix Racing and, after entertaining a lot of quality offers, there's no better place for me," Busch said.  

"It's going to be old-school racing, where we show up, race hard and go for the win. And if we don't win," he remarked, "we'll go back to the shop, work hard and do it all over again next week. That's the way we all started racing and it's great to get back to that."

Finch seconded Busch's emotions: "All we want to do is win. Winning is why I've been in racing for as long as I have, but NASCAR is a very competitive sport and winning - especially at the Sprint Cup level - is hard.  But now, with Kurt Busch as our driver we have a shot to win every week," he declared. "He's a past champion and he's proven he can win everywhere. Our sponsors are looking forward to Kurt representing their brands."

Finch believes he has "excellent equipment and  hard-working group of guys who want that trophy at the end of every race. Kurt's the guy who can deliver it to them."

Las Vegas, NV native Busch, now 33, has made the Chase for the Sprint Cup six times since the 10-race playoff began in 2004, the year he won his title with Roush Fenway Racing. He was the 2003 International Race of Champions (IROC) champion and, before joining the Sprint Cup Series in late 2000, Busch was the 1999 NASCAR Southwest Tour titleholder at 21 years, the youngest driver to win that series' championship.

"James Finch has always had pretty stout cars for the restrictor plate races and I know we'll be very competitive at Daytona," Busch said. "We'll participate in the test in January to get a good handle on our Daytona 500 car--but also to win another Budweiser Shootout."

In addition to Keselowski, some of the drivers that have raced for Phoenix Racing include Bill Elliott, Landon Cassill, Boris Said and Mike Bliss. Kurt Busch moved from Roush Fenway Racing to Penske Racing; he and the team parted ways about a month ago. The move to Phoenix Racing marks Busch's third engine affiliation, from Ford to Dodge to Chevrolet.

"Christmas came early for me this year," Busch remarked, "and I honestly can't wait for the season to begin."

© 2011 Anne Proffit