Penske speaks out on Kurt Busch
TSN: Can you address the situation with Kurt Busch last weekend and how you expect to move forward?
PENSKE: I hired Kurt Busch because I thought he was a great racecar driver. The situation that took place at Phoenix is unfortunate for him and certainly unfortunate for us. We stood by him 300 percent. Our sponsors stood by him. I think a lot of his peers stood by him. From my perspective, I think it's a lot better for something like this to happen now than if we have to deal with it in the future. I think the other thing is for every bad thing that happens, usually a good thing comes out. I think it's a wake up call for all of us in the sport. We're all under a tremendous magnifying glass here, and because of that we're going to have to watch the things we do. For Kurt, it's one of those things in life — I have four sons and I could say there were defining moments as they grew up and now they're great guys. It's my personal goal to have the best race team and Kurt's going to be part of that.
TSN: Jack Roush said there was no contrition from Kurt. Has he apologized to you for the incident?
PENSKE: Kurt and I talked about it after it happened. It's an unfortunate situation. Knowing all the facts and what happened, this could have happened to me, it could have happened to anyone. Unfortunately, given who he is and the circumstances, the outcome was a little tough. I met with Sheriff Joe (Arpaio), myself, on Monday night. He's a good guy. I think that all of us were disappointed with the situation but I've committed with him — along with Kurt — that once we're through this we'll come out there in the new year and see what we can do to show the community that Kurt Busch is a first class guy. He's not only a great racecar driver, he's a great person and I'm going to support him and try to help him. More….