From ESPN.com
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Updated: August 10, 9:12 AM ET
Adding Kyle Busch is a major coup for Joe Gibbs Racing
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By Denny Hamlin
Special to ESPN.com
I can't wait to get Kyle Busch on our team at Joe Gibbs Racing next season.
Denny Hamlin had a good day at Pocono. He sees even better days ahead with Kyle Busch joining the team.
As far as talent, between Tony Stewart and Kyle, you have two of the top three or four drivers in the sport. He's going to make us one of the strongest teams in NASCAR, in my opinion.
I'm not worried about it being a problem with egos or anything like that. It's only going to make all of our teams stronger. I think that's what pushes Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson to be as strong as they are at Hendrick Motorsports, because there is competition to be better than the other.
You've seen the same thing with Tony and me. We were performing and they weren't doing that well, and now they've stepped up and it's caused us to step up.
It's going to continue to go higher and higher, even more so if you've got all three cars doing that.
Nothing will change for Tony or me. We'll just continue to focus on what got us where we're at.
But it will be fun to have Kyle around. He is a guy who loves to race. He raced earlier this week in Wisconsin.
We've never had any issues on the track. In fact, he's been one of the best guys I've raced against, and we have one of the best relationships off the track, as well.
He comes over to my house on the lake and hangs out. He likes to go wakeboarding, which I'm not any good at. He tries to teach me, but I pretty much like to watch instead of doing it because I end up on my face most of the time.
It's good to have somebody on the team who you're compatible with. You can talk to him a lot more. We talk about our race teams anyway, even though we've been in separate organizations.
I didn't follow the process. I let the people in charge do their jobs. J.D. Gibbs has basically been running the team the last few years, and everything has been good.
In the long term, whatever changes they make will be for the best.
I don't get all wrapped up in the whole silly season of NASCAR. I just hope my job is secure and don't worry about where everybody else goes.
But it can be like a soap opera, especially this time of the year. It's just part of it. People have to move on, and when they do it affects a lot of other people's jobs.
Denny Hamlin drives the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet. He will share his weekly thoughts on and off the track with ESPN.com readers with the help of writer David Newton.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Updated: August 10, 9:12 AM ET
Adding Kyle Busch is a major coup for Joe Gibbs Racing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Denny Hamlin
Special to ESPN.com
I can't wait to get Kyle Busch on our team at Joe Gibbs Racing next season.
Denny Hamlin had a good day at Pocono. He sees even better days ahead with Kyle Busch joining the team.
As far as talent, between Tony Stewart and Kyle, you have two of the top three or four drivers in the sport. He's going to make us one of the strongest teams in NASCAR, in my opinion.
I'm not worried about it being a problem with egos or anything like that. It's only going to make all of our teams stronger. I think that's what pushes Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson to be as strong as they are at Hendrick Motorsports, because there is competition to be better than the other.
You've seen the same thing with Tony and me. We were performing and they weren't doing that well, and now they've stepped up and it's caused us to step up.
It's going to continue to go higher and higher, even more so if you've got all three cars doing that.
Nothing will change for Tony or me. We'll just continue to focus on what got us where we're at.
But it will be fun to have Kyle around. He is a guy who loves to race. He raced earlier this week in Wisconsin.
We've never had any issues on the track. In fact, he's been one of the best guys I've raced against, and we have one of the best relationships off the track, as well.
He comes over to my house on the lake and hangs out. He likes to go wakeboarding, which I'm not any good at. He tries to teach me, but I pretty much like to watch instead of doing it because I end up on my face most of the time.
It's good to have somebody on the team who you're compatible with. You can talk to him a lot more. We talk about our race teams anyway, even though we've been in separate organizations.
I didn't follow the process. I let the people in charge do their jobs. J.D. Gibbs has basically been running the team the last few years, and everything has been good.
In the long term, whatever changes they make will be for the best.
I don't get all wrapped up in the whole silly season of NASCAR. I just hope my job is secure and don't worry about where everybody else goes.
But it can be like a soap opera, especially this time of the year. It's just part of it. People have to move on, and when they do it affects a lot of other people's jobs.
Denny Hamlin drives the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet. He will share his weekly thoughts on and off the track with ESPN.com readers with the help of writer David Newton.