Busch calls Hendrick a liar

On Thursday Kyle Busch, the driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will replace next year, pretty much called owner Rick Hendrick a liar on a Sirius satellite-radio call-in show.

According to Hendrick, he and Busch mutually agreed that leaving the team would be best for both parties. Hendrick also said Busch told him other teams had approached him. A gracious statement was issued in Busch’s name at the same time the press conference announcing Earnhardt’s hiring was taking place. Not so, said Busch.

“Well, you know, this is all brand new," said Busch. “I hadn’t talked or discussed or done anything with any other team. There had been a rumor that flew around that I was unhappy at Hendrick Motorsports, which was untrue. I was just frustrated with the way things were going, that I wasn’t able to get results. We had been running good and been fast everywhere, but we just had some bad luck and were crashing, and whatever. That rumor started, and then after that rumor, it was that I was getting offers from other teams, which, I had never talked to anybody."

Busch said he hadn’t been given any indication that he wouldn’t be back at Hendrick until Monday.