After a week of speculation and rumors, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Kyle Busch will run the final two races of the 2011 season at Phoenix and Homestead. The only stipulation-M&M's will not be on the car for either race.
Instead, the 26-year-old Las Vegas native will pilot a white and green Camry backed by longtime JGR partner Interstate Batteries.
After being parked by Nascar for the Nationwide and Cup races in Texas, it was speculated that Busch's days with JGR might be numbered. The "new Kyle Busch" that the media claims we've seen this season was apparently all thanks to M&M's and their parent company Mars. And after his boneheaded truck race road rage in Texas, it appeared that all the effort they put into reforming his image was going to go to waste.
With an owner like Joe Gibbs, who is a devout Christian and was strict as could be on his players when he coached the Washington Redskins, he has been extremely lenient when it has come to Kyle and his attitude. That may just be coming back to bite him. Big time.
In a statement released by M&M-Mars after the incident, they said that Kyle's actions aren't "consistent with the values of M&M's and we're very disappointed. Like you, we hold those who represent our brand to a higher standard and we have expressed our concern directly to Joe Gibbs Racing."
Well, M&M's put out another statement Thursday night, saying that Busch's actions "don't reflect the values of Mars" but that they would return to the hood of the No. 18 Toyota next season. They apparently feel Busch has shown with his recent statement's (you can read his letter of apology here and judge for yourselves) he has shown remorse and a desire to reverse his image.
That's all well and good, but on the Nationwide side of things, it's a different story. Sponsor Z-Line Designs has personally asked JGR to replace Busch in the final race at Homestead (Joey Logano has the reigns this weekend). Who knows what this could mean for Busch's Nationwide career for next season? He announced that his Kyle Busch Motorsports team will run a fully-funded entry full-time next season. Suppose that sponsor has second thoughts after seeing his recent tantrum and ensuing sponsor issues. What would Busch do then?
Busch is definitely on final notice with M&M's. There is no way a conservative, family-oriented brand like them would hang around with Busch if things don't change after their contract ends in 2012. They may just give Gibbs an ultimatum. "It's him or us." And in this economy, with sponsors of M&M's caliber few and far between, Gibbs would undoubtedly drop Busch like a bag of dirt. Yes he's an unbelievable talent, there is no disputing that, but there is a lot more that goes into hanging onto sponsors than just winning.
Perhaps the recently fired David Reutimann, a guy who is a great spokesman, an even better racecar driver and like-minded in faith with Gibbs could take over the ride. He's a real guy who's raced his whole life, he has a great sense of humor and he's great with the fans. After five years of Kyle Busch and his on-track antics, Reutimann would be a refreshing change of pace for both Mars and JGR and he would represent both brands professionally and win some races for them too.
Supposedly, Busch's departure from Hendrick Motorsports after the 2007 season came at the request of then-sponsor Kellogg's after the same problems with bad publicity. M&M's has stood behind Busch in the past, but there is a limit to what any sponsor should be expected to endure. If M&M's does have a clause in their contract that allows them to leave due to bad press (as most sponsors do), Busch may be in serious trouble.
It's going to be very interesting to see if Kyle does really change and to see what, if anything, will happen to his racing career in the coming season.
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