Kyle Busch will be formally introduced as the new driver at Joe Gibbs Racing on Tuesday morning at the team’s Huntersville, NC shop. “Before I say anything I want to have a done deal,” team president J.D. Gibbs before Sunday’s Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen International. “I feel good about it. Right now we feel good about it and the direction we’re going.” Gibbs said Interstate Batteries will remain at least a partial sponsor of the #18, but didn’t rule out another sponsor coming in. He reminded the company gave up half of its races a few years ago. “Like we have in the past, they may choose to give up some races, move stuff around,” Gibbs said. “They’re the ones that have been there and started the deal.”(ESPN.com), no word if the press conference will be televised.(8-12-2007) UPDATE: SPEED will be covering Tuesday’s LIVE press conference from Joe Gibbs Racing at 11:00am/et. At that time, JGR is expected to make an announcement on the #18 Nextel Cup Series entry.(SPEED PR)(8-13/14-2007) UPDATE 2 – OFFICIAL: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has signed 22-year-old Kyle Busch to drive for the #18 team in Nextel Cup beginning in 2008. We’re extremely pleased to have Kyle Busch as a part of the family here at Joe Gibbs Racing, said J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR. Kyle is extremely talented, as his track record has proven, and he had a lot of teams to choose from in determining who would give him the best chance to win. Obviously, we’re glad he chose JGR, and he’ll have all the tools and resources he needs to win races and contend for championships. Busch comes to JGR a proven winner in each of NASCAR’s national touring series, with four Craftsman Truck Series victories, eight Busch Series wins and four Nextel Cup triumphs. After talking with a lot of different teams and visiting their shops, Joe Gibbs Racing is where I want to be, said Busch, whose contract with JGR runs through the 2010 season. The Nextel Cup Series is filled with good teams and good people, but the moment I saw the shop and began talking with Joe and J.D. Gibbs, there was a level of comfort that made me feel like this is where I belong. I want to win races and championships, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s three-car/one-team philosophy gives me the best opportunity to do that. Busch will take over for J.J. Yeley, current driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, following the conclusion of the 2007 season. He’ll begin pre-season testing as a teammate to two-time Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart and 2006 Nextel Cup rookie of the year Denny Hamlin. The 2008 season will mark Busch’s fourth full season in Nextel Cup. He currently competes for Hendrick Motorsports, where he ran a six-race schedule in 2004 before joining the series full-time in 2005. “While excited about my new opportunity with Joe Gibbs Racing, I remain committed to finishing this year strong and running for the championship, Busch said.(JGR PR) UPDATE 3 – Toyota? During the Q&A portion of the Joe Gibbs Racing news conference announcing Kyle Busch’s signing with the organization, Busch and J.D. Gibbs talked about the possibility of the team switching from Chevrolet to Toyota next year. Kyle Busch: “I took it into consideration, but as I looked at it, you know, I thought about it. And I’m like, ‘Well, you know, Joe Gibbs Racing, they’ve done pretty well at what they’ve done so far.’ And I feel like they’ll make the right decision… Do I feel like Toyota struggled a little bit this year? Sure, they have. But do I feel like Joe Gibbs and everybody here can try to turn that around? Certainly. And if they’re looking in that direction, you know, more power to them, but I’m going to let the man over here answer all of those tough questions.” J.D. Gibbs: “Yeah, really for us, we haven’t had much change in really the past several weeks. We had some great conversations with GM here. Obviously, we’ve had a great partnership with them over the past 16 years, and we’ve been great partners as well. I think going forward, we’re just going to sit down really… I want… We’re going through a process to have all of our technical guys figure out where we need to be. I think GM just got a verbal agreement from Hendrick, the first team to kind of re-sign for next year. So we’re kind of in the same phase as I think lot of those teams are. I think in the next several weeks, we’re going to really have to figure out where our future is and our direction.”(FoxSports)(8-14-2007)
