HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Kyle Busch signed with Joe Gibbs Racing on Tuesday, giving the team a powerful three-car punch that should keep it on pace with Hendrick Motorsports.

Busch has spent the past three seasons at Hendrick, but was dropped in June when the team made room for Dale Earnhardt Jr. It put the 22-year-old Busch on the free agent market, and he had no shortage of suitors in a busy 10-week negotiating period.

Gibbs, which had made an unsuccessful bid to land Earnhardt, joined the race to sign Busch with the full support of its two star drivers, two-time series champion Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin, a title contender.

It creates a lineup of three solid championship contenders for a team that has won three of the last seven Nextel Cup titles.

''We leaned a lot on Denny and Tony during this process,'' team president J.D. Gibbs said. ''Both of them said 'Off the track and on the track, there is no one who has the talent this guy does and bringing him on board really gives us three guys who can win week in and week out.' ''

But it also gives JGR three strong-willed individuals who subscribe to winning at all costs, and believe there's no such thing as friends on the race track. All three have tangled with others on the track, including Stewart and Busch last season, and even Stewart with teammate Hamlin this year.

Joe Gibbs, who sent a recorded welcome to Busch from Washington Redskins training camp, even jokingly wished his son luck in handling the temperamental trio. But J.D. Gibbs said assembling this lineup was a no-brainer.

''I think if you asked anyone if they want Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch, they would do that at all costs,'' Gibbs said. ''This is three guys that can obviously perform.''

Busch will replace J.J. Yeley in the No. 18 beginning next season. Yeley, who was in the final year of his contract, is now looking for a new job.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.