Owner didn't waver in decision

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Even after the police report proved what Kurt Busch had been saying all along - he wasn't drunk - car owner Jack Roush said he never thought about bringing the embattled driver back for Sunday's season finale.

"Kurt had been a challenge for everybody that interacted with him on the team at some time or other," Roush said. "He used up his equity with his sponsors. He used up his equity with me."

Roush said Busch's ticket for reckless driving - he was caught driving 60 mph through a stop sign near Phoenix International Raceway - was the final straw in a long line of problems with the driver. Team president Geoff Smith said Roush Racing had officially stopped being his "apologist" when they decided to fire him with two races to go.

"He's an extraordinary talent - an extraordinary talent - but he's really had trouble dealing with the realities of normal social behavior that have high standards in what we do," Roush said.

RATINGS HIT WALL: The overnight ratings for the season-finale Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway were 4.8, according to Nielsen Media Research, a drop from a 5.6 rating of a year ago.

The drop represented a 14.3 percent decrease in viewership. Two things were attributed to the decline: The lack of a close championship race and the loss of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. from the playoffs.

CHANCE 2 BACKS OFF: Now that Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. is moving up to the Nextel Cup Series, Chance 2 Motorsports owners Earnhardt Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt plan to scale back that team's operation.

The team is planning 10 or fewer starts next year, with Earnhardt Jr. and Truex Jr. splitting time.

Crew chief Kevin Banion said if they can find the right driver and a sponsor, the No. 8 Chevrolet might come back to full-time duty.

BACK TO WORK: Michael "Fatback" McSwain has spent more than a month studying ST Motorsports, and he's ready to get those teams and his Wood Brothers Racing Ford in the Nextel Cup Series acting as true partners.

The 2006 season started as soon as the team got back to their shop on Monday.

McSwain, who will be Ken Schrader's crew chief next year in the famed No. 21 Ford, will be in charge of overhauling the Busch Series operation for the No. 47 Ford of Jon Wood and the No. 59 Ford of Stacy Compton.

Reach Don Coble at don.coble@bellsouth.net.