Media Tour Day 1: No Xfinity plate races for Kyle Busch
You won't be seeing Kyle Busch in the Xfinity Series races at Daytona and Talladega in 2016.
Busch, the reigning Sprint Cup Series champion, said Tuesday he would once again run a partial schedule in the Xfinity Series. But on the advice of team owner Joe Gibbs and wife Samantha, he won't be partaking in the two Daytona races or the Talladega race.
“My wife won’t let me,” Busch said with a grin. “And (team owner) Joe (Gibbs). Joe and Samantha made that decision. I was thinking about it, but they were like, ‘No.’”
Busch broke his right leg and left foot in a vicious crash in the Xfinity race at Daytona in February. He missed the first 11 races of the Sprint Cup season but made the Chase thanks to five wins. He then won the title by winning the final race of the season.
His teammate Denny Hamlin is recuperating from an injury as well. Hamlin tore his right ACL playing basketball in the fall. He said Tuesday he was approximately 50 percent recovered from the injury, meaning he won't be at full strength when the season begins.
"I wish it was a little bit better for sure," Hamlin said Tuesday during the NASCAR preseason media days at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. "This one is a lot more difficult than the first one for sure. ... It should be better in the long run.
"There's no concern about Daytona. I could get into a car and do what I needed to do right now. The challenge would be getting in the car."
His recovery is slower than when he tore his left ACL because the graft doctors used came partially from his hamstring. Hamlin did not miss any of the final 11 races of 2015 because of the injury.
Carl Edwards, who finished fifth in the 2015 standings said he believed he could have won the championship with crew chief Darian Grubb.
Grubb is no longer with Joe Gibbs Racing. He took a job with Hendrick Motorsports after the team told him it was making changes. Dave Rogers, Hamlin's crew chief in 2015, is Edwards' new crew chief.
“I’m really proud of how Darian and I finished the season,” Edwards said Tuesday during the Joe Gibbs Racing stop on the NASCAR Media Tour. “I thought we performed very well. I believed we were going to have a chance at the championship, and we very well could have gotten it.
“That’s Darian Grubb. Once we get to the racetrack, we worked very well. A couple of different scenarios (in the championship cutoff race) at Phoenix, I think we could have won the championship. For us to be able to do that, I think that really says a lot about how professional Darian is.”
Grubb parted ways with Stewart-Haas Racing after he won the title with Tony Stewart in 2011. Edwards had a shot to move on to the final round but it disappeared when the next-to-last race of the season was rain-shortened.
Furniture Row Racing announced Tuesday that Bass Pro Shops would serve as a sponsor for the team and Martin Truex Jr. for nine races.
Truex was sponsored by Bass Pro when he drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc. The team is keeping part of its sponsorship with Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing and gives the primarily self-funded team at Furniture Row an influx of outside cash.
Bass Pro will sponsor Truex at Phoenix (spring), Texas (spring), Talladega (spring), Kansas (spring), Charlotte (spring), Daytona (summer), Bristol (summer) and Homestead.
"I'm very excited to have Bass Pro Shops as a primary co-sponsor on the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota," said Truex. "In addition to my passion for fishing, hunting and the outdoors, Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris is a personal friend and a hunting buddy. With our manufacturer changing to Toyota, our Furniture Row Racing team is positioned to take both companies to Victory Lane and contend for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship."
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!