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

"Kyle is a friend of mine. When you have a relationship like you do with the driver, it is very personal. When things go wrong, there is some disappointment," Gustafson said. "To sit here and say that there wasn't, I would be lying to you. I feel like when this all happened, we all knew the potential for Kyle to be a champion and win a lot of races. We still have a chance for him to be a champion here at Hendrick Motorsports. Now that it is not working out, I feel disappointed and I feel a little bit responsible in some regard, because if everything would have went well, we wouldn't have this problem."

The ramifications are likely to be felt all season. When Brian Vickers announced last year that he was leaving Hendrick for Toyota's Red Bull operation, he was locked out of some team meetings to prevent organizational secrets from getting out. Now Busch, 10th in points and very much in the thick of the championship hunt, faces a similar fate.

"It's a very good possibility," he said. "I hope it doesn't come to that, but you know, given the circumstances it probably will. To me, I think I'm close enough to the notebook where I know what's going on and I know what's in the car. I can look at stuff and see exactly what it is. I'm not retarded. I know pretty much a racecar from the ground up. I've worked on them for years. I've built my own racecars. I can look at certain aspects of it and know the measurements of it and stuff. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I can still look at it. I drive the thing."

Busch said that he has yet to formally talk to any team owners, but that his representatives report plenty of activity. At least publicly, he's not expressing particular interest in any specific organization.

"I'm interested in talking to anybody who wants to talk, whether it's DEI, whether it's Gibbs, RCR, Evernham, Yates, whoever's got an open seat," he said. "Whatever, lets go, let's sit down. Let's have dinner."

But the 2008 season is a long way away. Busch still has five months left to race for a team that he knows he won't be a part of next year.

"In Kyle and Rick's case, they came to the determination that maybe it was in both of their best interests to do something different," Burton said. "That doesn't change the fact that Kyle is still here to race to win. It doesn't change the fact that that team is still here to race to win. It becomes complicated, no question about it. The crew chief and the members of that team, they still have the same dedication and desire to win the race. They're not here just for Kyle Busch, they're here for themselves, too. It works both ways. Kyle is in a difficult position, but at the end of day, running well and performing is what it's all about."