Kurt Busch

Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American NASCAR and NHRA driver. He drives the No. 51 Rydex/Thank a Teacher Today Chevrolet Impala for Phoenix Racing in the Sprint Cup Series and has also driven for Penske Racing and Roush Fenway Racing in his Sprint Cup career, which began in 2001.

Busch, winner of 24 Cup races and the 2004 championship, also races on an "opportunity permitting" basis in the Pro Stock division of NHRA. ^[1]

He is a third-generation race car driver; his father Tom won several NASCAR sanctioned events, and he is the older brother of Kyle Busch, who is also a NASCAR driver.^[2]

Busch won the Cup Series Championship in 2004, the first ever season using the "Chase for the Cup" points format, finishing just eight points ahead of Jimmie Johnson. With a 2006 win in the Nationwide Series, Busch became one of only 23 drivers with a win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions: the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series.

Early and personal life

At the age of six, Busch was accompanying his father to the track and driving go-carts himself. As an underage teenager, he competed in Dwarf competition winning in just his second race, at the Las Vegas Speedway Park. This father and son team competed western tracks from Southern California to Utah. In 1994, his first full year as a driver, Busch won 10 consecutive races at 10 different tracks. His father eventually sold their dwarf equipment and purchased a powerful car for the Legends Series, which Busch began driving in 1996 at age 18.^[2] After graduating at Durango High School, Busch enrolled at the University of Arizona, hoping to earn a degree in Pharmacy.^[2]

Busch became engaged to girlfriend, Eva Bryan, while attending the 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix. On July 27, 2006, during an off weekend following the Sprint Cup Pocono race, they were married in Virginia. The footage was taped and later aired on national television. The couple currently resides in North Carolina, and travels to racetracks each week together. His younger brother Kyle Busch also competes full-time in both the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and runs part time in the Camping World Truck Series. The Kurt Busch family has a dog, a Yorkshire Terrier named Ginger. They had another dog, a Cairn Terrier named Jim, who passed away in the summer of 2007. The Busches and their dog are featured in the NASCAR Pets calendar. Busch is also an avid fan of the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears. The 2011 NASCAR season took a toll on the marriage and finally, Kurt and Eva filed for divorce in early June and were legally separated later that month. Kurt appeared to show off his new girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, during the June 26, 2011 Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend at Sonoma, California.^[3]

Racing career

Beginnings

Busch's first racing experience was in a Dwarf car at age 14 at Pahrump Valley Speedway.^[4] He was put in the Dwarf car by his father.^[5]

Busch earned his big break after Chris Trickle was wounded in a mysterious shooting (Trickle would die of the injuries over a year later and to this day the murderer has never been found). The Star Nursery team looked for a new driver to replace Trickle for the No. 70 team. Busch gained national exposure while competing against Ron Hornaday, Jr., Matt Crafton, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and others for the first time in the 1997 Winter Heat Series at Tucson Raceway Park.

Busch and the Star Nursery team went on to win the 1998 Auto Zone Elite Division Southwest Series Rookie of the Year.^[6] He followed up by winning the series championship in 1999.^[7]

That led to a tryout in a Roush Racing "Gong Show", which he won and earned a Craftsman Truck Series ride. He raced the No. 99 Exide Batteries Ford F-150.^[4] He won four races and finished runner-up to teammate Greg Biffle in the championship standings, as well as winning Rookie of the Year honors.

Sprint Cup Series

Roush Racing

2000–2005

Roush announced during the 2000 season that Busch was being promoted to the Winston Cup series to replace Chad Little in Roush's No. 97 John Deere Ford for the 2001 season. However, Little was released from the ride toward the end of the season and Busch ran several races, beginning at Dover in September, with Jeff Hammond as his crew chief. Busch finished 48th in the points with no wins, top fives, or top tens.

Busch ran for rookie of the year honors in 2001, starting 35 of 36 races with no wins, although he scored three top fives and six top tens that year. However, he ran the first several races in an unsponsored car due to John Deere pulling its sponsorship before Roush signed Newell Rubbermaid as the team's sponsor, with its Sharpie brand featured on the hood of the car. He and Dale Earnhardt made contact in the Daytona 500, and Earnhardt stuck his hand out the window at Busch to give him the finger. To this day Busch recalls this as the only time he encountered Earnhardt on the track (in fact, it was the last time Earnhardt and Busch competed in the same race due to Earnhardt's fatal crash at the end of the race). Busch finished with a 27th place finish in the championship standings, was the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award, earned more than $2 million in winnings. Busch's best finish was third at the spring Talladega race, and he added a fifth place at Indianapolis. He also won the pole for the Southern 500 at Darlington.

2002 was Busch's breakout year in the Winston Cup Series. He won his first race at the Food City 500 in Bristol in the spring. Busch added a second win at Martinsville in October, then won at Atlanta the next week and Homestead in the season finale. Busch scored four wins, 12 top fives and 20 top tens, with one pole, and finishing third in the final standings in 2002. He finished the season particularly strong, winning three out of the final five races and finishing third and sixth and leading many laps in the other two. Busch finished 3rd in points that year. He also collected $5,105,394.

Busch had an up and down year in 2003, finishing 11th in the season standings, earning four wins (including a season sweep at Bristol, making him the first driver to do that since Rusty Wallace accomplished the feat in 2000), nine top fives and 14 top tens but finishing only 11th in the standings following a late season slump, although he collected US$5 million+ dollars again that year. Busch was the runner-up finisher in the closest finish in NASCAR history at Darlington Raceway on March 16, 2003. After a two-lap side-by-side battle with Ricky Craven around the track, Craven crossed the finish line only 0.002 seconds ahead of Busch in the closest finish in NASCAR history.

In 2004, Busch won three races, two poles and the inaugural NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship. He won his fourth consecutive race at Bristol after winning the Food City 500 in March (winning that race for the third consecutive year), and became the second driver to sweep both races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in a single season. He scored ten top five and 21 top ten finishes that season. Irwin Industrial Tools and Crown Royal replaced Rubbermaid as his sponsor. Midway through the 2005 season, Busch announced that he would be leaving Roush Racing at the end of the season and would replace Rusty Wallace in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for Penske Racing South. Busch won three races during the 2005 season, along with nine top five and 18 top ten finishes in 34 races. He finished 10th in the final standings.

Penske Racing

2005–2010

Busch left Roush Racing and joined Penske Racing South in 2006. Busch had asked team owner Jack Roush to let him out of his contract at the end of the 2005, but Roush initially refused. However, after Chip Ganassi released Jamie McMurray from his 2006 contract, Roush decided to release Busch. McMurray, who was originally slated to join Roush in 2007 to drive the No. 6, instead replaced Busch in the No. 97, which was then renumbered to No. 26. In the 2006 season, driving for Penske, Busch scored one win at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500, his fifth win at the track. Busch celebrated the victory by getting out of his car and making a snow angel on the track, due to snow that had fallen at the track that weekend. He also won six poles and had seven top fives and twelve top ten finishes but finished 16th in the final standings. He also made his Busch Series debut for Penske in the No. 39 Penske Truck Rental Dodge at Texas Motor Speedway, winning in his first race. He ran six more races that season and picked up a second win at Watkins Glen International. In the 2007 season, Busch had two wins, one pole, scored five top-fives, and ten-top tens through 26 races and qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Busch's on-track performance increased noticeably after the addition of Pat Tryson as his crew chief mid-way through the season.^[8] He also ran four more Busch races, earning 2 top five and 3 top ten finishes.

In 2008, in order to make sure rookie teammate Sam Hornish Jr. would be guaranteed a starting spot in the season's first five races, the owner's points from Busch's No. 2 car were transferred over to the No. 77 car driven by Hornish. Busch would still be guaranteed a starting spot, due to NASCAR's Champion's Provisional Rule, which states that the most recent series champion not in the top 35 in the previous season's final owner points automatically qualifies for a race. (with his 2004 championship, Busch was by several years the most recent). On June 29, Busch broke a 29-race winless streak at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was called due to rain on lap 284. It was his fourth win since joining Penske Racing and 18th overall.

He began his 2009 season at the 2009 Daytona 500, he was involved in a wreck on lap 124 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. swerved into Brian Vickers. Vickers shot up the track and hit the wall, ricocheting into Denny Hamlin, who came down into Busch. He then spun into the grass (along with 8 other drivers). Busch made numerous pit stops to repair the car, and was able to finish tenth. Busch then qualified fourth for the season's second race at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. He ran in the top five most of the race and finished fifth. This moved him up seven spots in the standings to third. Busch led most of the race the 2009 Kobalt Tools 500, leading 235 of 325 laps and getting his nineteenth Sprint Cup Series victory. He led more laps in the race than he did in the entire 2008 season. He remained in the top five in points for the rest of the season. He qualified for the chase, and ended up 4th in the standings, the first car that was not under the Hendrick Motorsports banner.Busch picked up another win at the 2009 Dickies 500 after his brother Kyle ran out of fuel with two laps to go.

For the 2010 season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Penske Racing will bring Brad Keselowski on board to drive the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger. Busch and Sam Hornish will be his teammates.^[9] Keselowski will also run a full-time Nationwide Series, driving the No. 22 Discount Tires Dodge Challenger. 2009 Rookie Justin Allgaier will accompany him in the Nationwide Series.^[10] Steve Addington, who was Kyle Busch's crew chief for the past two seasons and led the younger Busch to 14 victories, became the crew chief for Kurt at the start of the 2010 season, as Pat Tryson left to join Michael Waltrip Racing as Martin Truex Jr's crew chief. On May 22, 2010, Kurt Busch won the 26th Annual NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. He then followed it up by winning the Coca-Cola 600 the following weekend, becoming only the seventh driver to win both in the same year. Kurt eventually made the Chase being seeded 5th in points. Busch also, amazingly, finished seventh at Daytona after wrecking three times in the last twelve laps. Busch would finish out the season 11th among the Chase contenders.

2011-2012

In 2011, Busch earned his first Budweiser Shootout win after Denny Hamlin went below the yellow line at the end of the race at Daytona. He would go on to win the 2011 Gatorade Duel 1, and because Pole Winner Dale Earnhardt Jr's crash in practice, which forced him into a backup car, Kurt Busch started in first for the 2011 Daytona 500, and started the 2011 season 3 for 3. Busch won the pole for and led most of the race at Kansas, for 152 laps. However, a fuel pickup issue late hurt his chances of winning. Teammate Brad Keselowski took the victory. However, a few weeks later on June 26, Kurt finally got an elusive road course victory at Infineon Raceway. Not only did he win, but he also the most laps with 76. Because of Brad Keselowski's injury during a practice crash at Road Atlanta, Busch filled in for Keselowski in his NASCAR Nationwide Series car for the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International, and Busch managed to get the pole and the win. As of August 13, 2011, Kurt Busch has won 1/4 of all of his Nationwide races. On October 2nd Kurt Busch won on 2 late restarts beating Jimmie Johnson in turn 1 leading the final 43 laps to grab his first ever victory at the Monster Mile at Dover. After a frustrating final 5 races, things came to a head when Busch launched a verbal tirade against ESPN pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch at Homestead. Crew chief Steve Addington moved to Stewart-Haas Racing after the 2011 season.

Busch's employment with Penske Racing terminated on December 5, 2011. Although most observers of the sport believe he was fired,^[11] Busch claimed in a public statement that the parting was "mutual": "I am grateful to Penske Racing for six very productive years. Together we won a lot of races — 16 in all. ... Coming to a mutual agreement to go our separate ways is a positive step for me."^[12] In contrast, the Charlotte Observer reported several sources confirming team owner Roger Penske decided that Busch's altercation at Homestead-Miami Speedway was the last straw in his stormy tenure with the team but chose to defer the announcement until after Champion's Week.^[13]

Following his release from Penske Racing, Busch reached an agreement to drive for Phoenix Racing, driving the No. 51 Chevrolet, for the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season.^[14]

NHRA

Busch began training in January 2011 under veteran NHRA Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson and obtained his NHRA Pro Stock competition license. He made his drag-racing competition debut on March 10 at the 42nd annual Tire Kingdom Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL. On March 12, Busch qualified in the Pro Stock field, and made his first professional drag-racing Elimination-round start on March 13, losing to Erica Enders by 0.004 second in a car carrying Shell sponsorship and painted to look like his NASCAR Sprint Cup racer. Busch is only the third driver to cross over between NASCAR and NHRA, the other two being Richard Petty and John Andretti.^[1]

Controversies

2005 Phoenix incident

Busch's 2005 season was cut short by two races after a confrontation during the Phoenix, Arizona race weekend with Maricopa County Sheriff deputies on November 11, 2005, when he was pulled over for suspicion of drunken driving and cited for reckless driving.^[15] At first, the Sheriff's department claimed that their equipment for sobriety testing had failed and they could not release results of his drunk driving tests. This claim later proved to be false, but by this time, Roush Racing responded two days later by suspending Busch for the remainder of the season and replacing him with Kenny Wallace for the final two races. Team president Geoff Smith famously declared they were "officially retiring as Kurt Busch's apologists."^[16] Busch was 8th in the Cup Series Chase for the Championship at the time of the incident. He was sentenced to serve 50 hours of community service which was to be completed within one year. In November 2006, one year after the incident, Busch was declared an honorary deputy in Maricopa County.

2011 Homestead incident

In the final race of the 2011 season, Busch finished 47 laps behind the leaders, after spending time in the garage for mechanical issues. While turning into the garage, Busch made an obscene hand gesture. While his car was undergoing repairs, Busch verbally abused Dr. Jerry Punch while waiting to be interviewed by Punch for ESPN, in an incident captured by a fan and posted on YouTube.^[17] NASCAR fined Busch $50,000 for his actions during the race, and Penske Racing issued an apology for Busch's "inappropriate actions".^[18]

In December 2011, he announced that he was seeing a sports psychologist, acknowledging "I need to be a better person on the radio, to the team, as a leader. It's personal issues, of course, and working with a sports psychologist, I've gotten obviously a small grasp, but there's obviously bigger things that I need to accomplish and things can't happen overnight." ^[19]

Penske Racing and Busch later mutually agreed to part ways^[20], although many in the sport believe he was fired.^[21]

Feuds with rival drivers

In the February 2006 edition of GQ Magazine, he was selected number three on their list of the top ten most hated athletes, behind Barry Bonds and Terrell Owens.^[22]

Aside from Jimmy Spencer, Busch has had notable run-ins with Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Tony Stewart. On June 4, 2007 in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway, after a crash with Stewart he drove beside Stewart's car on pit road, and gestured through his window netting. Busch was penalized 100 championship points, fined $100,000, and placed on probation until the end of the year.

But Busch would tangle with Stewart again only months later. During practice for the 2008 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, Stewart clipped the back end of Busch's car sending Busch into the wall. After sustaining major damage Busch drove towards Stewart's car and rammed Stewart's car three times before attempting to return to the garage after the practice was called. Stewart had stopped his car in an effort to block Busch from going back into the garage area but Busch went around Stewart.

On June 21, 2009 in the Toyota Save-Mart 350 Busch was involved in a wreck with Johnson. Three weeks later at Chicagoland Speedway, both Johnson and Busch were involved in another incident where they collided into each other. Busch then retaliated by colliding with Johnson's car in the door area shortly after the contact. Over a year later, Busch was involved in an accident at Pocono Raceway after bumpdrafting with Johnson. His crash was overshadowed by Elliott Sadler's horrific crash.

Racing record

Sprint Cup Series

Summary

(Data current as of October 3, 2011))^[23]

References

External links

• Official website
• Kurt Busch at Racing Reference
• 10 Questions with Kurt Busch – July 2005 interview of the defending Nextel Cup champ