Warning: Objects in this post may be the only way to successfully live through the NASCAR off-season. For best results, read rearview mirror early and often.
Driver: Kurt Busch
Team: No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge
'08 Final Standing: 18th (-3049)
Best Race: Lenox 301 at New Hampshire (1st-place)
Worst Race: Ford 400 at Homestead (43rd-place)
Season in a box: The 2008 season started off so well for Kurt at Daytona that casual observers who watched that race and then only stat lines for the rest of the season may have thought the "K Busch" winning all of those races was the older of the Sprint Cup brothers. That wasn't nearly the case, however.
Busch's 2nd-place finish in that season-opening race truly gave the team a huge dose of momentum -- remember he did finish just behind teammate Ryan Newman -- as the season started, but he "Big Mo" certainly didn't last long, nor did it ever really regain its early season fashion for the No. 2 bunch. In six of the nine races that followed Daytona, Busch finished 23rd or worse.
The season's biggest bright spot came with a win thanks to the well-timed rain shower at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. To put it in perspective, Michael Waltrip finished second. Nonetheless, it was still a win for Busch.
Later in the season, Busch's No. 2 was tapped to be the test car for the Dodge engine program that saw the No. 2 battle for a win at Phoenix but also have some significant struggles such as a 39th at California and a 30th at Kansas.
Through the crystal windshield: With news this week that both the newly-merged Chip Ganassi operation and Robby Gordon would be switching to Chevrolet and Toyota, respectively, the number of teams in the Dodge camp is decreasing pretty noticably. The lower amount of teams may temporarily help Penske with the engine program because of the resources won't be stretched as far, but the amount of research on engine packages will also be diminished.
Additionally, Penske hasn't been able to keep pace and win consistently since Ryan Newman's impressive season in 2004, meaning that 2009 doesn't seem to hold a bunch of promise for the No. 2 team. Newman's departure combined with David Stremme taking over the No. 12 duties might provide a nice change of pace for Busch and Co., but don't look for a championship-winning 2009 effort.
Next up: Ryan Newman
