FanHouse Lenox301

After watching the interviews and reading them online following Sunday's Lenox 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, I'm confused about what Kyle Busch was saying.

And because I'm confused, I'm not going to make false assumptions. Speculation, though, is definitely going to happen.

Kyle was undoubtedly in horrible spirits after finishing 25th in the rain-shortened event. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won five times in 2008 and leads the point standings, so he's just not used to running poorly.

Add to that getting knocked around under caution by Juan Pablo Montoya, and you can bet Busch wasn't going to be too happy in his post-race interview. Luckily, though, he obliged to the media's request and talked about his race. That's, though, where his comments got a little quirky:

"We missed something all weekend. I knew it was going to be a dismal day and I was trying to make the most of it," Busch said.

"If we had stayed out, we could have won the race, but I just didn't feel that was the right way to win a race. I didn't feel like we had a shot to hold off the guys that were going to be behind us."

So is it safe to assume that Kyle simply didn't want to win the race? Was he the one who made the decision to come to pit road when his brother didn't?

Juan Pablo Montoya's brutal honesty is so, so refreshing.

Following Sunday's Lenox 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, JPM fully admitted that he intentionally spun Sprint Cup point leader Kyle Busch late in the event under caution after the two had bumped on track. Before we go any further, watch below at 0:46:



As you can see, the discontent among the two began when Busch drove JPM up the hill in turn one. The two continued to make contact down the backstretch and when the caution came out for the crash between Clint Bowyer and Sam Hornish Jr., Busch banged into Montoya's drivers side.

That was enough to break Montoya's last straw.

Casey Mears is officially leaving Hendrick Motorsports, effective at the end of 2008.

Mears, currently 24th in the Sprint Cup standings, leaves Hendrick after never doing anything that impressive while in the driver seat at the premier organization -- with the exception of one lone win at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 2007.

It's been a constant struggle for Mears this season to produce results like the rest of his Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. despite driving equipment built out of the same shop as Earnhardt. Dale Jr.'s No. 88 is currently 3rd in the standings.

Oddly enough, Mears' best finish of 2008 was just one week ago at Infineon Raceway when he brought the No. 5 Chevrolet home in fourth. Five finishes lower than 35th in 16 races this season, though, aren't wiped away with a single Top-5.

I like Casey Mears a lot -- he's a nice guy and doesn't cause problems on track -- but the statistics are much too telling about his performance at HMS. Granted he hasn't had the best of conditions to work under are switching racing teams and crew chiefs multiple times, but at some point, the results just have to come.

Mark Martin is rumored to be getting in the No. 5 for a last-ditch effort at a Sprint Cup title in 2009. From his performance in a few races in 2008 -- most notably at Phoenix -- the part-time Dale Earnhardt Inc. driver could really make some waves with the appropriate equipment.

Martin in the No. 5 for 2009? Sounds good to me.