Kurt Busch Fired From Penske

Guess this doesn't surprise me.

http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/12/04/80040/penske-racing-fires-kurt...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Karen on December 4, 2011 at 10:25pm

Have Kurt S&P for Robby - the Past Ch provisional should help get the car in :-)

I am not really surprised about this. I also agree that the press should not be allowed to stick their mikes in a driver's face as soon as they get to the garage - they are mad and frustrated. They shouldn't be expected to be on their P's and Q's then. Imagine if you did this to a QB, going to the bench after throwing an interception!

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Permalink Reply by WJM on December 4, 2011 at 10:45pm

Sam has been with Penske 8 years, Helio 13 years, and Rick Mears (ret.) 35 years. There's a reason for this and Kurt has made it pretty damn clear he would never satisfy ANY reason for keeping him on the payroll.

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Permalink Reply by Robb Glen on December 4, 2011 at 10:45pm

Big news comming out of the Robby Gordon camp next week !!!!!!
Will surprise alot of people .

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Permalink Reply by Wheaton56 on December 4, 2011 at 11:22pm

Dakar?

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Permalink Reply by kurt kern on December 4, 2011 at 11:29pm

Kurt Busch? (that will last 10 seconds)

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Permalink Reply by Rob Hoban on December 5, 2011 at 11:15am

Is Robby teaming up with Jaques Villenuve to purchase the Red Bull team?

Let the week of speculation and fun begin!

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Permalink Reply by Richard Carlson on December 5, 2011 at 11:47am

I certainly hope it is good news because the bad news has been a plenty lately.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Gruber on December 5, 2011 at 3:11pm

I am going to hold you to this. I wish I had a nickel for every time I have read a post like this on this site and then never heard a damn thing about it later. I hope it is true and huge news.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Sweeney on December 5, 2011 at 12:31am

Gotta keep the bossman and sponsors happy. Nuff Said. I wonder how those meetings with a "sports psychologist" worked out for him

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Permalink Reply by Beagle7 on December 5, 2011 at 9:04am

Heres a pipe dream...Call up the Captain...Robby runs full time in the #22 and have Ears run the #7 locked in with the PCP...lol :)

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on December 5, 2011 at 10:25am

According to most reports, David Ragan is the front leader to take over the #22 with Darian Grubb as crew chief... of course all of this is not official yet. Even the firing of Kurt won't be made official until today. According to Jim Utter, Kurt's attorneys want the public to know it was a "mutual parting" (that's funny!).

Don't be suprised if someone doesn't take a gamble on Kurt. Joe Gibbs Racing or EGR could go for Kurt. I doubt anyone at RCR wants anything to do with Busch.

On the postive side, Robby Gordon is now Dodge's #2 main man in the Cup series. I would think it's the perfect time to try and negotiate with Dodge some additional resources and possible sponsorship.

I doubt Vickers or Reutimann are in the mix. Vickers' talent level was exposed this year when Kahne won with RBR and finished in the Top 15 in points in the same equipment Vickers had. Reutimann had his worst season and is known for taking care of equipment, but has the rep of being perhaps too cautious. Roush wanted to keep Ragan, but didn't have enough sponsorship. With Trevor & Ricky in the stable, letting Ragan go wasn't a blow to the organization. Ragan will likely sign for alot less to get the opportunity to be in the #22 with Shell and then negotiate next year on a long term deal.

If I was Penske, I would work a deal with Shell / Pennzoil to hire Ragan for nearly half or a third of what they paid Busch and use the additional monies to run Hornish in a 3rd car. Run Shell with Ragan and Pennzoil with Hornish or two reversed scheme cars. That way you get back to a 3 car team, and get Hornish additional seat time. All thanks to Kurt Busch being a turd!