Listening to the wind of changeAn August summer night […]
The future’s in the airCan feel it everywhereBlowing with the wind of change – “Wind of Change” by Scorpions (1990)
The first signs of trouble came in April at Talladega Superspeedway.
Storm clouds were brewing over Kyle Busch.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver of going on 15 years was short and vaguely to the point as he answered questions in the track’s media center.
What was his desired time frame for setting his 2023 plans?
“Yesterday,” Busch said. “I’m not getting antsy about it. If it happens, it happens. If it don’t, it don’t. Goodbye.”
Was leaving JGR a possibility?
“Ask Joe Gibbs.”
Had he been talking to his team owner?
“Not my problem,” Busch said. “Got to sell it. If you don’t sell it, then nothing to have.”
So everything depends on a sponsor?
“Correct.”
In late 2021 Mars, Inc., Busch’s primary sponsor at JGR since 2008, announced it would be leaving NASCAR as a sponsor at the end of 2022. That coincided with the end of Busch’s current contract.
Based on reporting in the last four months, in hindsight, it’s possible that, in the time frame of Busch’s Talladega media availability, a potential new sponsor for Busch, a technology company called Oracle, had just fallen through.
In the months since, no $20 million “unicorn” of a sponsor — as Busch said last month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — has materialized.
The swirling gusts of a potential change in scenery for Busch increased significantly in July.
It was at Indy that the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion said that his “first goal” was staying with JGR. He had settled into the reality that he’d likely have to compete for less than his market value.
“I’m willing to take concessions,” Busch said. “Whatever that comes to be, obviously it’s a negotiation.”
That same week, Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson told NBC Sports, “we’re in a bad place right now,” when it came to keeping Busch.
“We’ve got some tremendously heavy lifting in front of us,” Wilson said.
On Aug. 12, two days after the 15th anniversary of the announcement that Busch would join JGR, Wilson appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Wilson said there was “absolutely a chance” that Toyota would be able to keep Busch under its roof.
A “chance” doesn’t exactly instill someone with confidence.
💭”There’s…
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