Head2Head: Which driver to build a team around?

Four names automatically spring to mind when considering who the choice would be. But keep in mind, this is not a Best Driver in NASCAR question. There are intangibles to the equation.

• Jimmie Johnson is the reigning three-time champion. But he is not the best driver in NASCAR. He's the driver on the best team in NASCAR. My start-up team doesn't have his crew, so I'll pass on Johnson.

• Tony Stewart is showing why he should be considered given his success with his first-year team -- but age is a factor. Stewart will turn 39 next May and while he would provide immediate dividends, I'm looking for something longstanding.

• I've said it before and I'll say it again now: Kyle Busch is the best driver in NASCAR. When Busch wins, he's good. When he doesn't, he's bad. That's bad from a public relations and marketing sense, which will be the ultimate determination of success or failure in this venture.

• Then there's Carl Edwards. The nine-race winner of 2008. Although he has yet to reach Victory Lane in '09, Edwards is a near-lock to make the Chase for the third consecutive year and the fourth time in his five full seasons.

But Edwards brings more to the table than just driving talent, which all of the above possess in abundance. "Cousin Carl" is media-savvy and can schmooze with the best of them, qualities that make him ripe for the (sponsor) picking and thus ensuing the financial bloodline of my team.

There are four characteristics I want in my driver if I was fortunate enough to own my own Cup team: young, knows how to win, life revolves around racing, and knows how to play the sponsor game.

Kyle Busch has all four in abundance.

At 24, no driver dominates like Busch. Last year he won 21 races and this year he already has 11. He has two wins and six top-10s in seven truck events; six wins and seven consecutive top-two finishes in the Nationwide Series; and his three wins in the Cup Series is second only to Mark Martin.

And while he is without a championship, that will end this season as Busch will win the Nationwide title and could win the Cup title as well. No one in the garage under 30 even comes close to the supremacy Busch has shown the past few seasons.

When he isn't in Victory Lane -- he's none to happy about it which is an owner's dream. Yes, Busch has a bad attitude at times. I say good. I don't want my driver happy with a DNF or a poor performance. I want my guy out for wins each and every week.

Despite the sometimes poor attitude, Busch can sell merchandise -- and that is vital in today's NASCAR. Love him or hate him, his stuff is everywhere and that means the sponsors -- and my checkbook -- are happy.

No question in my mind -- at his age, I want Kyle Busch driving (and winning) for me for a long time.