NASCAR NEWS

Last race in the #2 for Busch: Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch will be making his final drive behind the wheel of the famous #2 "Blue Deuce" Penske Racing machine this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He certainly wants to end that five-year run with a bang. "It will be the final race for me behind the wheel of the Miller Lite Dodge," said Busch. "We've had a great run in the 'Blue Deuce' over the last five seasons and would love to score another win and celebrate with some Miller Lites there in Victory Lane on Sunday."(Tom Roberts PR), in 2011, Busch moves to Penske's #22 Pennzoil Dodge and Brad Keselwoski will take over the #2 Miller Lite ride
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Gibbs has spoken to Busch: Joe Gibbs told Sirius NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody that he has spoken with Kyle Busch about the profanity laced tirade at Texas Motor Speedway that resulted in Busch being fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation for the remainder of 2010. "(Kyle) gets so uptight that every now and then, he makes mistakes," said Gibbs. "We've got to do everything we can here inside Joe Gibbs Racing to make sure that doesn't happen. That's what we're totally focused on. We've got a plan laid out, and Kyle has agreed to do the things he needs to do& to ensure that we don't put ourselves in that position again. We think he's a huge talent; a smart, bright guy that we enjoy being around. His whole life is Sam (his fiancée)& and racing. There are no issues with him running around drinking or anything. He doesn't care about any of that. He's totally focused, and all he wants to do is race cars. (Unfortunately) he gets so wound up at the race track that it's hard for him to handle some of the things he needs to handle. We love his competitive nature, but he just needs to learn to handle things better." Gibbs declined to speak specifically on what discussions have been had, or what guidelines have been put in place regarding Busch's future behavior. He stressed, however, that all parties agree that incidents like his recent outburst at Texas Motor Speedway cannot continue to occur. "(It) was not good for us at Joe Gibbs Racing, and it certainly wasn't good for our sponsor," he said. "We feel like there was a plan that we had to put out there, to assure that this doesn't happen again. We're going to keep that in-house, but it's something that we think is smart, and Kyle does too. He realizes where he is, and that's a great part of this. We just have to make sure it doesn't happen again."(Sirius Speedway)
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Dale Jr.'s crew chief status an offseason decision: Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't want to think about personnel issues with his #88 team until the end of the season. That includes a decision about the status of crew chief Lance McGrew
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The owners behind the three drivers remaining in this year's championship hunt are all NASCAR royalty, with a combined 18 championships at the sport's highest level. Gibbs owns three, two with Tony Stewart and one with Bobby Labonte. Richard Childress has six, all with Dale Earnhardt, the most recent coming in 1994. And Rick Hendrick holds nine, one with Terry Labonte, four with Jeff Gordon and four with Jimmie Johnson, who is trying to win his fifth consecutive crown.
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TV ratings have declined from 2009 in the first nine races of the Chase (including a 24% drop for Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway), and attendance (according to NASCAR estimates) has been down for seven races and flat in the other two.
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Gibbs, trying to become the first car owner to win the championship for a foreign manufacturer (Toyota), says his driver and his team have matured this season, making his biggest fear a "broken part or broken piece."

"I hope it comes down to what happens on the track," he said; "May the best man win (with) all three cars having at it."