Gibbs: Busch won't be fired but faces more penalties

Team owner Joe Gibbs said Kyle Busch would face further "substantial" and financial penalties, but that firing the driver wasn't considered in the wake of his parking last week at Texas Motor Speedway.

A contrite Busch said he was concerned he might lose his No. 18 ride, but Gibbs never broached the concept. Gibbs also said there was no discussion of M&M's leaving the team despite parent company Mars' decision Thursday to take the brand off Busch's Toyota for the final two Sprint Cup races of the season. Busch instead will have Interstate Batteries, a 20-year backer of Joe Gibbs Racing, as its primary sponsor.

Gibbs wouldn't discuss whether the team would refund Mars for the final two races, nor whether Interstate had increased its financial commitment. But he said Busch's "penalties are going to be substantial. The biggest thing for everyone on the 18 car was we went from seventh in points to 11th in the Chase. That's a huge deal. There are other actions in place and other financial penalties that we're working through.

"In a situation like this you can make one or two decisions. One would have been devastating and really discouraging for everyone around him and for the sport. I want to support Kyle and feel as if this could have a positive impact on Kyle. I like him. We've gone through a lot together. We're looking forward to a long relationship."

Busch said he wanted to learn from the ordeal, which began after he intentionally wrecked Ron Hornaday Jr. in the Camping World Truck race at Texas Motor Speedway last week.

"This has been a trying week," Busch said. "Utmost of all, I'm apologetic for everyone having to go through this situation. There's no one to blame but myself. Joe has been a huge supporter of me and can't say enough about him.

"We're here to say we want to learn from this. We want to move on. There's certainly remorse form my side to be apologetic to M&Ms brand and everyone who put their heart and soul into those brands, and we want to continue that down the road. This is an opportunity to become a better person to grow and learn from this. I'm looking forward to those days.

"I'm sure I lost respect with my team, my sponsors, my peers, and I understand those consequences. I understand my actions were uncalled for and disrespectful. I'm here to make sure I can continue in a positive manner and make sure everyone believes in me from this week forward.

"I want to be with Joe Gibbs Racing, I want to be in NASCAR, I want to be driving the M&M's Toyota. For all of that to work out and to work together, certainly it's going to be through a lot of my efforts and my efforts behaviorally. I have a strong path ahead that I'm excited about and looking forward to, and earning and growing and understanding that the ground that I've made this year has been awesome. Obviously, there was a moment that took away from all of that, but I'm certainly not opposed to continuing that growth pattern."

In a statement released Thursday night, Mars said it was removing the M&M's brand for the final two races of the season but would return in 2012 "with the expectation that no future incident take place."...

...Busch has won 104 races in NASCAR's top three national series, and his success has made him one of the most publicized drivers in the sport.

In measuring live telecasts and replays from the first 32 races this season, Joyce Julius and Associates determined Busch ranked first among Sprint Cup drivers in mentions (4,991) and interview time (1 hour, 1 minute) and third in number of interviews (49).