Ok, so Roush announced today that Kurt Busch will be leaving to drive the #2 for Penske starting in '07... and, wow, we are big Roush fans over here at Gas-and-Go, and this possibility had not even entered into our speculation. I admit, I was blindsided by the news.

Kurt Busch is the reigning series champion, and is a member o one of the currently dominant teams in the sport... he has among the best equipment out there and, from all reports, a crew and teammates that work together well. So, why the move? The only explanation I can come up with is that Penske must have thrown a lot of money at him. Of course, I admit that my understanding of the internal politics and history of the sport and teams is pretty limited, so if anyone has a more compelling explanation, please comment and enlighten me!

The #2 is a storied team, and Rusty has been having a fabulous year... but the Charger has certainly had its share of problems, and the Dodge teams in general have not had a great year - in most cases they just haven't been able to keep up with Roush and Hendrick (and, lately, Gibbs in the form of Tony Stewart). So, I just don't get why Kurt would jump ship on Roush... I really don't.

The most interesting part of the story to me, however, is the unusual position that it puts Jack Roush in. In conjunction with his announcement that he signed with Penske starting in '07, Kurt asked to be released from his Roush contract in '06 in order to join the Penske operation next year. Sound familiar? yeah, I thought so... that's exactly the position that Jamie McMurray is in with respect to his current contract at Genassi and his future contract at Roush. So, Kurt is either quite fortuitous in his timing, or very very savvy (I presume it's the latter) - Jack can hardly put the pressure on Genassi (to the extent he can) to release Jamie, and, at the same time, refuse to release Kurt to Penske.

So, who will be driving the #97? I, for one, expect Jack to release Kurt for next year. Anyone think that Mikey can be convinced to drive a Ford?