In an interview Sunday night on "Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain," Sprint Cup Series team owner James Finch said "there's a question" whether he will be able to run the full Cup season with driver Kurt Busch.
Asked by Despain if there was a question whether his team could do all the races, Finch answered:
“Well, we’re trying. There’s a question. We’re off and running and trying.
We’re talking to some people and going from there. We’re headed to Kansas this
weekend and hopefully get in the top 10 there and then come back to Talladega
and have a really good run. We’re optimistic about it. Kurt has put a lot of
effort in it. It’s kind of like a small team getting a big-time quarterback," Finch said.
"Last night (at Texas), it was 480 miles before we got a lap down. The pit crew
did a real good job with all the green-flag stops. We’re just trying to catch
up with Kurt. Kurt’s got the speed. We’re trying to get the crew chief up.
We’re trying to get the pit crew up to be able to handle what Kurt can do.
Hopefully, we’re getting there.”
Busch moved to Finch's team in the offseason after parting ways with Penske Racing. Busch has said repeatedly he has a "handshake deal" with Finch for the season but no signed contract.
Finch said he and Busch were still in their "honeymoon" period but admits it's been a rough start to the season.
"We had a rough start in Daytona. We crashed four
cars. Then we crashed again in Las Vegas. We’ve had a pretty tough time, but
all in all, Kurt is doing his part. He’s probably the hardest driver I’ve ever
had, and I’ve had a lot of drivers. I’ve had multiple drivers," Finch said.
"Everybody says,
‘How is Kurt doing?’ I say, ‘Kurt is doing fine. I’m not doing so well. I’ve
wrecked a lot of cars and hadn’t been able to secure some sponsorship yet that
we desperately need. Other than that, Kurt is doing a great job and I thought
he did a good job last night (at Texas).”
