Kyle Busch bids farewell to Hendrick

The younger of the Busch brothers made his final Busch Series start for the team a week ago at Phoenix, scoring an emotional victory. On Sunday he will be making his last Cup start for the squad that opened him the doors to NASCAR's top series in 2004.

Busch will join Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin next year at Joe Gibbs Racing, which is set to become the leading Toyota team in 2008.

"Yeah, it's the last race for a lot of things," Busch said. "It's the last race of the year, the last race with Hendrick, the sponsors, and the team.

"We'll go on in the next year and see what it all entails. But we've still got this final weekend here to make the most of it to try to get a final win if we can.

"It's time to move on, basically. Last week people were saying I was emotional in victory lane. I don't remember cracking a tear. It's just a part of racing.

"You've got bigger and better things that come about sometimes and like I said, it's time to move on and experience that."

Busch was full of praise for Hendrick Motorsports, but reckoned that despite being in the best team of the moment, it has been frustrating for him not to be able to get the same kind of results that his teammates have pulled off to dominate the year between them.

"I think it's got a lot to do with people and personnel and Rick," Busch added while explaining Hendrick's success. "But the drivers, I think you've got two of the best in the sport, which they've won all the races this year.

"So, Jeff and Jimmie have got it going on and they know what they're doing. And it shows every weekend.

"So, it's been tough being on the No. 5 and No. 25 side and not being able to run as well as they have. But we've been consistent. We just can't close our deals. We can't win as often. That's probably the most frustrating point when we can see your teammates doing it, yet you can't."

Busch has spent his whole Nextel Cup career with Hendrick Motorsports, taking two wins in his rookie year and one more in each of the his following two years driving the No. 5 car.

Casey Mears will take over his seat in 2008 as he moves to Joe Gibbs Racing.