Full Throttle

When was the last time a reigning NASCAR Champion announced his intention to jump ship and switch to another race team? I damn sure don’t remember it occuring previously, but there is a first time for everything.

Reigning Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch has signed a contract to drive for Penske Racing South in 2007 and asked to be released from his current contract with Roush Racing, apparently in hopes of replacing retiring Rusty Wallace next season.

“Yeah, we have signed him up for 2007,” Penske team president Don Miller told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “As for anything else, the lawyers tell us we can’t really comment. We’ll just have to see how things shake out.

“Kurt Busch is a great driver and Ryan (Newman) said he is looking forward to having him as a teammate and working with him.”

Keep in mind this isn’t just a defection from a race team, it’s also a very large coup d’