Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch
Date of birth	August 4, 1978 (1978-08-04) (age 32)
Hometown	Las Vegas, Nevada
Achievements	2003 IROC champion 2004 Nextel Cup Champion NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXVI winner
Awards	2000 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series statistics
Car no., team	2 - Penske Racing
2009 Sprint Cup position	4th
Best finish	1st - 2004
First race	2000 MBNA.com 400 (Dover International Speedway)
First win	2002 Food City 500 (Bristol Motor Speedway)
Last win	2010 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte Motor Speedway)
Wins Top tens Poles 22 149 12
NASCAR Nationwide Series statistics
Best finish	39th - 2006
First race	2006 O'Reilly 300 (Texas Motor Speedway)
First win	2006 O'Reilly 300 (Texas Motor Speedway)
Last win	2006 Zippo 200 (Watkins Glen International)
Wins Top tens Poles 2 9 2
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics
Best finish	2nd - 2000
First race	2000 Daytona 250 (Daytona International Speedway)
First win	2000 Sears DieHard 200 (The Milwaukee Mile)
Last win	2000 Motorola 200 (California Speedway)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 17 4
Statistics current as of August 9, 2010.

Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American NASCAR driver. He drives the number 2 Miller Lite Dodge in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. 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.^[1]

Busch won the NASCAR NEXTEL 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 18 drivers with a win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions: Sprint Cup Series; Nationwide Series; and Camping World Truck Series.

Early 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.^[1]

After graduating at Durango High School, Busch enrolled at the University of Arizona, hoping to earn a degree in Pharmacy.^[1]

NASCAR

Early career

Busch's first racing experience was in a Dwarf car at age 14 at Pahrump Valley Speedway.^[2] He was put in the Dwarf car by his father.^[3]

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.^[4] He followed up by winning the series championship in 1999.^[5]

That led to a tryout in a Roush Racing "Gong Show", which he won and earned a Craftsman Truck Series ride. He raced the #99 Exide Batteries Ford F-150.^[2] 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. He caused controversy when Jack Roush invited him to race in the Winston Cup Series, without any experience from the Busch Grand National Series, while overlooking Biffle, who had competed longer in NASCAR than Busch. Busch began racing on the Winston Cup circuit in 2000, at the age of 22. Busch was scheduled to replace Chad Little in Roush's #97 John Deere Ford for the 2001 season, but was put into the ride toward the end of the season to gain experience. His first race in the #97 was at Dover in September, and Jeff Hammond served 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. John Deere left the team at the end of the 2000 season and Busch ran the first several races unsponsored 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 other circumstances). 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.

2002-2005

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. He also collected $5,105,394.

Busch had an up and down year in 2003, 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. It was a season marred by an ongoing feud with fellow driver Jimmy Spencer. After some car-to-car bumping at a race at the Michigan International Speedway, Busch brake tested Spencer causing the latter to collide with him. Spencer reached into Busch's car, grabbed Busch, and punched him in the nose. Busch first claimed that his car stalled out in front of Spencer's garage, though audio later revealed that he stopped the car, revved the engine, and threatened Spencer from his car. Spencer was forced to sit out the next week's race, and both drivers were fined and placed on probation for the rest of the year. Busch was also 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 after being suspended for the final two races, when he had been falsely issued a DUI before the Phoenix race.

Busch (97) and Joe Nemechek at Talladega Superspeedway in 2005.

2005-2009

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 #6, instead replaced Busch in the #97,[1], which was then renumbered to #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 #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.^[6] He also ran four more Busch races, earning 2 top five and 3 top ten finishes.

Kurt Busch's 2008 Sprint Cup Series racecar

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 wasn't 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.

2010-Present

For the 2010 season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Penske Racing will bring Brad Keselowski on board to drive the #12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger. Busch and Sam Hornish will be his teammates.^[7] Keselowski will also run a full-time Nationwide Series, driving the #22 Discount Tires Dodge Challenger. 2009 Rookie Justin Allgaier will accompany him in the Nationwide Series.^[8] 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.

In 2011, Busch will drive the #22 Shell/Penzoil Dodge for Penske. Currently after 20 races in the 2010 season Busch is 5th in the point standings, and has 2 wins, 7 top fives, and 12 top tens.

2005 Phoenix incident

Initial Reports

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.^[9] 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."^[10] 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.

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.^[11]

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 spun out by Jimmie Johnson. 3 weeks later at Chicagoland Speedway Johnson put Busch in the wall. Busch retaliated by slamming him the door shortly after contact.

Season statistics

(2010 Season underway-22 of 36 races completed)

Personal life

Busch and his wife Eva at the 2008 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

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 recently 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.

References

External links

• Kurt Busch's Official Website
• Kurt Busch Interview - The Global Townhall
• Career statistics at racing-reference.info
• 10 Questions with Kurt Busch - July 2005 interview of the defending Nextel Cup champ