It was announced on the ninth that Jason Leffler would be the primary driver for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, confirming that Kyle Busch wouldn't return to his own team (as a driver) in 2012. This comes to many as no surprise due to the rumors that Joe Gibbs Racing and MARs would be looking to prevent Kyle Busch from running in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2012. While this news is official and nothing can change that... I'm not happy with the decision by Joe Gibbs Racing and MARs to pull Kyle from his own truck.
I am well aware that Kyle Busch is under a contract with Joe Gibbs Racing who pays him to drive a race car, who is paid by MARs and other sponsors to put their name on the car. The problem and issue that I take with this situation is that this isn't punishing just Kyle Busch. This is punishing Kyle Busch Motorsports employees, Kyle Busch Motorsports sponsors, the tracks, but the biggest one of all... the fans. If you want to punish Kyle Busch then that's well and good, but when you start playing with the 40-50 employees that Kyle has, his sponsors, the race tracks, and the fans... that's where the punishment isn't a punishment to Kyle Busch. Why are they wanting to punish the fans who pay to watch Kyle Busch race? Why are they punishing the tracks who want Kyle Busch to show up to put a rear-end in the grandstands? It doesn't matter if you like Kyle Busch or not, you have to admit that people pay to see him regardless if it's to cheer him or boo him.
The "lower series" of NASCAR (Nationwide & Camping World Truck Series) aren't putting up the numbers (attendance wise) that the races should be. The trucks put on some of the best racing of the year, but there are more empty seats than full ones. I'm not going to put the full credit on Kyle Busch as the reason there are as many fans in attendance, but you have to give the Sprint Cup guys in general some of the credit. Despite the common opinion that Kyle is only there to steal the wins and the show from the young lions of NASCAR, I don't agree with that opinion.
It's not Kyle Busch showing up and racing for one of the Toyota teams because he had some time. He's putting time and money into the truck series by fielding his own truck, sometimes up to three trucks in a race, and brings sponsors into the sport. What's wrong with that? I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I'm under the impression that one more truck in the field is a great thing for the sport, regardless of who is driving it. Kyle has said many times - as has the GM of Kyle Busch Motorsports, Rick Ren - that he's in the truck because that's what sponsors want. Who can argue with that logic? Kyle is putting them in victory lane, you can't argue with the success and logic that is behind the sponsors moves.
Without Kyle Busch in the truck on Friday night, whose to say these sponsors don't leave his team? It has been said that many of the sponsors came onboard with the agreement being that Kyle would be in the driver's seat for so many races. If Kyle can't race in any of the truck races, those sponsors can take their sponsorship away... from the sport. This would put the sport in even more strain for sponsorship and put the future of Kyle's team up in arms. Is that something that Joe Gibbs Racing and MARs will step in to fix? I don't see MARs jumping on board with Kyle's team if that happens.
In the end, it's not about what a contract states. Sure, a contract is an agreement between the parties (Kyle + JGR + MARs) and that is more than enough to legally justify this decision to force Kyle out of driving his own truck, it's not a moral justification of it. This just proves that sponsors have too much "stroke" within the sport, but without sponsors.. nobody goes racing. Though with Kyle Busch out of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series... I'd be really worried if I was one of the 42 cars that'd roll off each week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kyle Busch snagged four wins last season in the Sprint Cup Series when he was running all three of the NASCAR series, what can he do with full focus on the one series?
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