Kurt Busch Trying To Escape Living In Racing Shadows

For Kurt Busch this season has been about living in his brother's shadow and breaking free from behind Ryan Newman leadership roles at Penske. With Ryan Newman leaving  for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, Kurt has his chance to be the leader at Penske racing.

The only thing that is holding back this former champion is performance and younger brother Kyle Busch.

Now you are thinking, Why would Kyle Busch be holding back his older bother? My answer  while Kurt Busch has been battling all year just to stay in touch with the leaders his brother was scorching the field and leaving many to wonder what happened to Kurt?

Kurt has said it in the past, you think I am good wait till my brother hits his stride. And hit his stride he has. Leaving Kurt Busch struggling to get his blue deuce anything close to the TV time his brother is getting.

It's not rare to see brothers in racing. NASCAR is a family sport. Generations race  in NASCAR's top division like the Pettys and Allisons and Waltrips. NASCAR is about passing on racing traditions to the next generation.

Both have the talent and the drive but the difference between the two is performance and equipment.

For Kurt Busch who he himself has won a championship and has until the last two years ran well within the top 10 in this sport. He has become an afterthought in this sport.

The performance at Penske racing is what really drove Ryan Newman to join friend Tony Stewart newly formed Stewart Haas Racing. Ryan has always been the leader and face of that organization even though he himself hasn't run nearly as competitive as  he did in his break out season of 2005.

I think Kurt choice to not jump ship himself from Penske is the fact that in any other organization he would not be the  number one guy. He would always be the second or possibly third driver on a team.

It's a smart move for him to be honest. He is the face of an organization that needs to to improve. Busch is the perfect person for it. He races hard, no doubt about it. And with every DNF you can see the frustration and disappointment on his face, but you won't hear him bash the organization or call out crew members in the media.

He knows how to play face with the media. So for Penske while losing a guy like Newman is hard. He's got a driver whose passion for this sport hasn't changed since he took his first laps  in the top series.

Kurt has the talent to win races. He has a strong relationship with crew chief Pat Tryson. But the on track performance has garnered this team engine failures, mechanical issues, and lack of overall speed on the track.

Now the new car has played a role for many teams struggling, but there has been progress for those teams. For the Penske Dodges they are struggling to keep there  cars competitive and finish races. In this tough competition  today Penske racing could see the organization itself slip into  becoming a filler team instead of true contender.

Penske also runs the risk of losing sponsorship for his teams. While Kurt Busch is not the most marketable driver in NASCAR, he can keep  sponsors, for now. Sponsors want to see there product on TV. They don't want to hear you didn't finish the race which means you garnered little to none TV time.

Kurt Busch recently said they are focused on next year. Focused on making there cars stronger and more competitive. But they are way behind on other organizations and playing catch up puts you one year behind the rest of the field.

Penske needs to focus on NASCAR if he wants to win a championship, in a field of tough, hungry competitors.For Kurt Busch in the remaining races and in 2009 he needs to display why Penske Racing is not an afterthought and will be contending, simply by finishing the races.