I LOVE CONTRACTS!!!

Most of you probably do not know that I worked 26 years for one of the premier Sports Contract attorneys in the country before he passed away from cancer in 2003. In the beginning he represented professional athletes from Major League Baseball, National Football League and the National Basketball Association. After approxiamtely 10 years on holding hands and wiping noses of the mostly uneducated, pampered, brats, my boss ventured into contract represenation of Coaches in college and professional ranks. I will not list those individuals here for legal reasons, but let it suffice to say that most of the coaches you see in the bowl games this year and many of the NFL coaches were his clients. ESPN Game day could have filled hours of tv time interviewing the coaches that attended the funeral in December, 2003. It was quite a site.

I said all that to say that these contract issues that have come up with young Mr. Kyle Busch and JGR, are well within the options available to Gibbes racing. Joe Gibbs has the right to tell Kyle what underwear to put on IF that was a contract term. There is no telling what terms may be in the contract between the parties but I have seen NFL contracts that do not allow players to do such things as snow or waterski, fly in one seat airplanes, or drive race cars. When a contract pays big bucks, the Payor of that contract can call the shots as the Payor see fit. Just be sure it's in the contract or can be legally interpreted to represent the intentions you have. I would bet the NEXT contract between Joe Gibbes and Kyle Busch will contain different terms as to certain aspects of the personality of Kyle Busch.

Because I still have connections in the legal contract world, even today, I would like to tip you readers off to "possible" contract terms between Phoenix Racing and Kurt Busch. Allow me to preface this with the statement that I have a great deal of respect for James Finch and if he can get these terms in the contract over the objections of Kurt's lawyers, more power to him. These are the terms currently under negotation:

1. Kurt is NOT allowed to wear driving GLOVES. He must, instead, wear driving MITTENS, much like the mittens worn by children in kindergarten. The reasoning behind this is that by wearing such hand covering, Kurt cannot exercise the "one digit option" to be picked up by television cameras.

2. Two way radio communication will NOT be permitted between Kurt and his crew or spotter. The crew and spotter will be able to speak with Kurt, but Kurt will NOT be allow a microphone.

3. Kurt is NOT allowed to give any radio, television or written press interviews whatsoever. Should he actually win a race, Victory Lane Interviews will be handled by a crew person designated by James Finch.

4. Kurt will be responsible to personally repair any damage to the car including all body work damage incurred as the result of what Kurt terms as "racing".

5. All sponsor photo shots will be done with full helmet coverage of Kurt's face so, in the event of abrupt dismissal from the team, new sponsor photo shots will not be required.

At this point, these are the only contract options of which I am aware causing much discussion. Good luck to Phoenix Racing. The Phoenix is the bird that goes down in flames (Kurt Busch) and comes back as a new and beautiful bird (NOT Kurt Busch).

If this offended anyone, go hire yourself a lawyer. I know a couple good ones.

Poor Kurt... no bonus for not hitting a media member.

Well Mr Leeming,there is no way you are going to let this year dispose of itself without a last minute shot at it and the fellows (not Ron) that totally ruined their carrier in our sport are you.

First you put Kurt in a position that he will have to have clearance to go to the house with the half moon on the door. Second how will he signal he is entering the pits during green flag racing, now I know its called tag your it huh!!!!

Next I think Kyle still has a wife so be prepared for one of those prenuptial thingees that she may bestow on Kyle,heck she may become the next Nationwide Camping world team owner. Kevens wife is out of the limelight so why not???

That way Kyle can concentrate on NOT running over whoever is in front of him and JG can lap by lap instruct him through the race. As you just said a lawyer can write up his live in advance before he even qualifies for the first race. So Mr Lemming are you in the process of prewriting these two young men their instructions on how to properly race in Nascar?? You should know because you have successfully completed many seasons not behind a desk but behind a steering wheel trying to catch that sucker in front of you or maybe keeping that character behind you from passing you.

Now Mr prosecutor I rest My case,do you have a rebuttal ??

I could NOT pass this up as the old year ends. Johnny, well written, I loveit! Jimmy, the world would be shocked by what I was taught in those 26 years and what I learned. I have participated in preparing contracts with "incentive clauses" that would outstrip most contracts. The guy I worked for was awesome and he taught me many things. HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone.

The little nut didn't fall far from the big shrub.

This commentary was published Friday in Scene Daily. The comments by former Roush Racing President, Geoff Smith (a highly respected individual whose daughter handled team PR in its early days) about the Busch Brothers is especially revealing. Note that the team declined to hire Kyle when it had the chance before Hendrick did. Smith cites the entire family's behavior problems for the reason Roush declined on the opportunity to take the younger shrub. Very interesting reading.

Travails of Busch brothers show it's all about keeping sponsors happy
By Erik Spanberg
Friday, December 30, 2011

Kyle Busch, 26, and Kurt Busch, 33, race for different teams, but have similar track records when it comes to controversy.

Last season, Kyle Buschs travails included driving 128 mph on a public street with a limit of 45 mph in North Carolina; tussling with 65-year-old rival car owner Richard Childress and intentionally wrecking an opponent in a Truck Series race, leading to a one-race suspension and prompting primary sponsor M&Ms to remove its logo from Buschs car for two races. Joe Gibbs Racing decided to keep Busch as a Sprint Cup driver for 2012 and M&Ms will return, but everyone knows Busch is on a short leash.

Big brother Kurt, the 2004 season champion, known for tirades and tantrums with crew members and others, wound up looking for a ride after cursing at ESPN pit reporter Jerry Punch during the season finale. A subsequent apology and $50,000 fine from NASCAR werent enough to keep Busch at Penske.

Which means the brothers face crucial tests in 2012. That is, staying out of trouble and treating teammates, bosses, reporters and sponsors with respect without fail. Otherwise, Kurt and Kyle Busch could be out of chances.

All these things are warnings, says former driver and owner Darrell Waltrip, an analyst at Fox Sports. It mounts. Its a cumulative thing. At some point, its the tipping point. And I think both those boys are right there. They better get control of themselves or theyre going to be driving for each other.

Kurt Busch snagged a new ride in December, signing with Phoenix Racing, a single-car Sprint Cup team owned by James Finch.

Finchs construction company will sponsor the car if no outside backers are found.

Busch remains confident his new team offers plenty of upside for prospective sponsors. In some ways, he views his recent controversy and subsequent departure from Penske as beneficial because of the spotlight sure to follow in the new season.

Were going to have a lot of attention geared our way just with how last year ended and the attention of how Im going to resurface, he says. The attention value around what were going to do as a team together will be highly anticipated, so involvement from any type of sponsor is going to be a good and bad type of recognition. But a champion driver and one that knows how to get to victory lane this is a group that is going to show so much promise this year that its a good investment.

Team executives and other experts say sponsors long ago began including behavior clauses in contracts, giving companies tremendous leverage in deciding what is and isnt permissible behavior for drivers.

In 2002, Home Depot fined Tony Stewart $50,000 after a physical confrontation with a news photographer. Stewart also sought counseling. Stewart had his share of on-track feuds and fines in subsequent year, but, since becoming a team owner in 2009, has stayed mostly out of trouble.

The predicament faced by Kurt and Kyle offers proof that, at some point, even winning cant overcome attitude problems and sour reputations.

Remember, Kurt Busch not only has a championship on his rsum, but also 24 Sprint Cup wins. Kyle Busch has 23 victories in NASCARs top series and 104 wins combined in the Cup, Nationwide and truck series.

Beyond winning, Ive also got to do things personally to make the right steps to be an overall better package, Kurt Busch says. The racing results have always been there for me, but those always seem to be shoved underneath the rug when people are really talking about what I am as a full package.

Geoff Smith, the former president at Roush Fenway Racing, worked with both Busch brothers during his 21-year tenure.

Kurt Busch left Roush after the 2005 season, but was suspended for the final two races because of an embarrassing episode in Arizona. After being stopped and issued a ticket for speeding, Busch taunted the police and was detained.

Between them, the Busch brothers have run afoul of four of NASCARs most respected team owners: Gibbs, Penske, Jack Roush and Rick Hendrick.

A penchant for finding trouble led Roush to decide against extending a contract offer to Kyle Busch just before he signed with Hendrick Motorsports, Smith says.

A lot of people didnt know that, he says. There was an assumption that Rick Hendrick stole him away and outbid us, but we declined. We thought that having to deal with certain behavioral characteristics that were similar had a chance to blow our whole organization apart. We decided we were going to try to make do with Kurt and hope that worked out.

Instead, Kurt Busch left for Penske a year after winning the championship.

During his days at Roush, Busch ran into trouble with rival Jimmy Spencer and, Smith says, frustrated primary sponsor Newell Rubbermaid. For Smith, such episodes were alarming, because the loss of a primary sponsor can wreck a teams fortunes and, in the worst cases, cost 100 or more team members their jobs.

Constant controversies can also taint a team, making other companies leery of committing to sponsorships.

Such concerns have only become more important in recent years as companies demand better terms and exact heavier concessions from race teams.

In todays world, image is everything, Waltrip says. Youve got to have a squeaky-clean, fan-friendly sponsor attitude if youre going to succeed.

Kurt and Kyle Busch both issued apologies and promised to avoid further incidents after their controversies.

Kurt Busch recently hired a sports psychologist to improve his relationships with teammates and others. The counseling will make him a better racer, he says.

Smith, among others, remains unconvinced. In the Busch family, the thing that shocks you the most is that there is absolutely no respect shown to any individual. Ever.

Overcoming such sentiments takes time, but the main emphasis should be on making racing fun again, Kurt Busch says.

He cant quite leave it at that, though.

With Geoff making a comment like that, you just have to consider the source, Busch says.