By Brian Bielanski, Editor

(RacingWire) - Just weeks after mutually agreeing to part ways with Penske Racing, 2004 Sprint Cup Champion Kurt Busch has landed a full time ride in the 2012 Sprint Cup Series with James Finch's Phoenix Racing.

Busch will pilot the #51 Chevrolet Impala with engines and chassis from Hendrick Motorsports.

“I’m very happy to join Phoenix Racing and after entertaining a lot of quality offers, there’s no better place for me,” said Busch, winner of 24 Sprint Cup races, as well as the 2010 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, the 2011 Gatorade Duel and the 2011 Budweiser Shootout. “We’re going to run the full schedule together, and we’re going to have fun doing it.

“It’s going to be old-school racing, where we show up, race hard and go for the win. And if we don’t win, we’ll go back to the shop, work hard and do it all over again next week. That’s the way we all started racing, and it’s great to get back to that.”

Busch and Penske agreed to the seperation following a number of incidents culminating in an off-track profanity laced encounter with ESPN's Dr. Jerry Punch.  After leaving Penske Busch said, "all I want to do is get back to having fun in the racecar." 

Finch's Spartanburg, S.C. based team has won 13 NASCAR races including the April 2009 Sprit Cup Race at Talladega Superspeedway. 

“All we want to do is win,” Finch said. “Winning is why I’ve been in racing for as long as I have, but NASCAR is a very competitive sport, and winning – especially at the Sprint Cup level – is hard. But now with Kurt Busch as our driver, we have a shot to win every week. He’s a past champion and he’s proven he can win everywhere. Our sponsors are looking forward to Kurt representing their brands.

“We have excellent equipment and a hard-working group of guys who want that trophy at the end of every race. Kurt’s the guy who can deliver it to them.”

Busch's first race with the team will be the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.  Busch won the race in 2011.

“James Finch has always had pretty stout cars for the restrictor-plate races and I know we’ll be very competitive at Daytona,” Busch said. “We’ll participate in the test down there in January to get a good handle on our Daytona 500 car, but also to win another Budweiser Shootout.