'Mutual' split with HMS has Busch looking to future (cont'd)

Robert Yates Racing, which has a two-car Ford operation, could be a player. So could Richard Childress Racing, which has expressed interest in starting a fourth team. And Busch has zoomed to the top of DEI's short list to replace Earnhardt.

"Oh yeah, he's definitely right there," said Richie Gilmore, vice president for motorsports at DEI. "There are two or three guys we've got at the top of our list, and he's definitely one of them. I think he's one of the most talented drivers in the garage. When he became available, he definitely moved right up there."

'No. 1 free agent'

Rick Hendrick has said it himself. What Kyle Busch has done in his young career in the No. 5 will make him well-sought after on the open market.

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• Garage Pass: Busch shocked

Adding Busch would be fine with DEI driver Martin Truex Jr. "The biggest thing Kyle has going for him is, he's a hell of a racecar driver. He can drive just about anything. It would be great for us to have somebody who can get out there and race hard and race for wins and run up front," he said.

"I've had an OK relationship with Kyle around the garage. He's cool. I've never had any trouble with him on the racetrack. We've always raced well together. I think it could work. I'm probably the easiest guy in here to get along with, so I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have any trouble with any teammates."

Exactly how Busch became available is still becoming clear. He was adamant Friday that the split was by mutual agreement, echoing team owner Rick Hendrick's words from earlier in the week. Hendrick and Busch were negotiating a contract extension when things took a sudden turn, one the driver claims he wasn't made completely aware of until it was too late.

"I had previous representation by someone else, and it wasn't discussed to me some of the things that probably should have been, so I was out of the loop on most of it," he said. "So I'm very ignorant when it comes to that kind of stuff, because I wasn't informed. Just from what I know is that the negotiations were going well, then they weren't going well, then we started getting back on track and then Junior announced availability and then that's where we kind of stalled out again. So, you know, I'm not stupid. You guys [in the media] aren't stupid. So it's kind of common sense, I guess."

The saga led Busch to change agents, firing attorney Alan Miller and signing with Jeff Dickerson of Motorsports Management International. Between the lines, it's easy to piece together a scenario under which Hendrick wanted to re-sign Busch, only to change course when Earnhardt became available. But despite all appearances, the driver doesn't believe he was forced out.

"Do I feel like I got pushed out? No, I don't feel like I got pushed out," he said. "For the way the negotiations were going, it wasn't going well, then it was, then it wasn't again, so I think that I can do better somewhere else. That's the way we kind of felt it."

But to some in the garage, it seemed strange to see the Hendrick organization part so easily with a driver it wrangled away from Roush Racing as a teenager.

"I know that Rick's been extremely committed to Kyle, and the development of Kyle, and believed Kyle could take him where he wanted to go. That seemed to be an unwavering commitment," RCR driver Jeff Burton said. "So I don't know what went on to spread them apart. The biggest surprise to me, based on my conversations with people at Hendrick Motorsports, is that Rick has been very committed to Kyle. My biggest surprise is that there is room [for Earnhardt], based on that."

The impending separation is also a blow to the men on Busch's No. 5 team, among them crew chief and close friend Alan Gustafson, who is under contract with Hendrick and likely to remain with the team next year. (Continued)