Busch vows to finish time at Hendrick on own terms (cont'd)

"I haven't had the chance to talk to him personally," Gordon said. "I've talked to his team and [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] and certainly a lot of folks at Hendrick, and I'll be looking to talk to Kyle. I just had a full day. I thought I was going to get a chance to do it and I got here to the track, but it was just too late.

"I didn't want to talk to him on the phone. I want to talk to him face-to-face. I think everything's fine. I don't see any issues there."

Perhaps Gordon doesn't, but it seems that Busch does. He made it clear that he has no intention of helping any of his current Hendrick teammates over the second half of this season.

"I'm not helping anybody but myself and this [No. 5] team for winning races," Busch said. "I'm not helping Jeff Gordon; I'm not helping Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears. They're able to go back and see what I run, but for me it's just to go out there and try to win races and keep winning with my name."

Busch added that he hopes to determine who he will be racing with next season fairly soon. He said it could be as soon as two weeks and might be as long as six weeks, adding that he has whittled down the candidates to "four and a half teams" -- explaining that he is still talking to one team but it has all but been eliminated.

It is believed the top four teams Busch is considering are Dale Earnhardt Inc., Richard Childress Racing, Evernham Motorsports and Penske Racing. Busch spent a good 15 minutes talking and joking with driver Martin Truex Jr. and members of Truex's No. 1 DEI Chevrolet team on pit road following qualifying Friday.

Asked point-blank if he would like to team up with his brother, Kurt, who drives Dodges for Penske Racing, the younger Busch replied: "It wouldn't bother me. I wouldn't mind driving for any of the teams out there. They all seem to be doing pretty well in their own respect at certain racetracks. For me, hopefully, I can bring a little bit more to the table where I can help out with their struggles at other places."

Busch also was asked if he would mind leaving Hendrick for his new employer before this season was out.

"I'm a driver. I just race racecars," he replied. "All this off-track stuff is just another distraction. I will stay with these guys as long as they want me to stay with them. Until they tell [team owner] Rick [Hendrick] or [general manager] Marshall [Carlson] or something like that, I don't think that's going to happen."

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