Kurt Busch
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| Born: | August 4, 1978 | |
| Birthplace: | Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Awards: | 2004 NEXTEL Cup Champion | |
| NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Statistics | ||
| Car #, Team | 2 - Penske Racing Nextel Cup | |
| 2006 NEXTEL Cup Position: | 16th | |
| Best Cup Position: | 1st - 2004 (NEXTEL Cup) | |
| First Race: | 2000 MBNA.com 400 (Dover) | |
| First Win: | 2002 Food City 500 (Bristol) | |
| Last Win: | 2006 Food City 500 (Bristol) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 15 | 90 | 5 |
| All stats current as of November 12, 2006. | ||
Kurt Busch (born August 4, 1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a NASCAR driver. He pilots the #2 Miller Lite Dodge in Nextel Cup Series and part time in Busch Series driving the #39 Penske Truck Rental Dodge. In 2004, he won the NASCAR Nextel Cup series championship , his first NASCAR championship at any level. Busch drove the #97 Sharpie/Irwin Industrial Tools Ford for Roush Racing in 2005. He replaced the retiring Rusty Wallace in the No. 2 Roger Penske owned, Miller Lite sponsored Dodge Charger starting in 2006. With a recent win in the Busch Series he became one of only 16 drivers with a win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions (Nextel Cup, Busch, and Craftsman Truck Series).
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[edit] Entry to NASCAR
Kurt was a competitor in the NASCAR Autozone Elite Division Southwest Tour and gained his first national exposure whilst competing against drivers like Ron Hornaday, Matt Crafton, Greg Biffle, Chris Trickle, and Kevin Harvick in the 1998 Winter Heat Series at Tucson Raceway Park.
Busch earned his big break with tragedy. Chris Trickle was shot in a mysterious shooting (Trickle would die of the injuries over a year later), and the Star Nursery team looked for a new driver to replace Trickle in the #70 team. Busch inherited the ride for the team and won the 1999 AutoZone Elite Division Southwest Series championship.
That led to a tryout in a Roush Racing "Gong Show," which he won and earned a Craftsman Truck Series ride. He caused controversy when Jack Roush invited him to race in the (then) Winston Cup Series (later renamed when Nextel took over the series sponsorship), without any experience from the "junior" Busch Grand National Series, whilst overlooking Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch's more experienced teammate.
Busch began racing on the Winston Cup circuit in 2000, at the age of 21. He drove in 7 races, with no wins, top 5's, or top 10's, and finished 48th in the standings that year, with Jeff Hammond as crew chief. (NASCAR permits teams to make no more than seven starts in a season to preserve rookie status.)
Busch ran for rookie of the year honors in 2001, driving 35 of 36 races with no wins, although Kurt collected 3 top 5's and 6 top 10's that year. He also won his first pole position by timing the quickest qualifying lap in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Kurt finished 27th in the standings that year.
Busch almost won the championship in 2002, getting four wins, 12 top 5s and 20 top 10s, with one pole. He finished 3rd in the standings that year. He also collected $5,105,394.
Busch had an up and down year in 2003, earning four wins, nine top 5s and 14 top 10s while finishing a disappointing 11th in the standings, although he collected US$5 million+ dollars again that year.
Halfway through the 2006 season, his first racing for Penske, he has taken one win at Bristol Motor Speedway, and has collected 7 top 10 finishes.
[edit] Feud with rival driver
Kurt Busch's 2003 season was marred by an ongoing feud with fellow driver Jimmy Spencer. After some car-to-car bumping at a race at the Michigan International Speedway, Jimmy Spencer reached into Busch's car, grabbed him, and punched Busch in the nose. Kurt first claimed that his car stalled our in front of Spencer's garage, though audio later sounded as though he stopped the car, and threatened Spencer from his car. Spencer was forced to sit out the next weeks race, and both drivers were fined and placed on probation for the rest of the year. The altercation harmed Busch's relationship with fans significantly. He has since attempted to repair this image through charitable donations and many public appearances where he interacts with fans. In the February 2006 edition of GQ Magazine, he was selected number 3 on their list of the top ten most hated athletes.[1]
[edit] Alleged drunk-driving charge
[edit] 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.[2] 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 the damage was already done - 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."[3] Busch was 8th in the Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship standings, 281 points behind points leader Tony Stewart, when the suspension was announced. By the time the season ended, his absence dropped him to 10th in the standings. Surprisingly, his younger brother, Kyle, won the race that weekend.
[edit] Resolution
As three months had passed, the press interest in the incident dropped off by the time the situation was resolved. It was revealed later that there was in fact no evidence of drunk driving after breathalyzer and field sobriety tests were administered, leaving only a charge of reckless driving.[4] In a plea agreement reached on February 8, 2006, Busch pled guilty to the misdemeanor charge of speeding and two other traffic citations: following too close and passing in a no-passing zone. The reckless driving charge was dropped. Busch paid $580 in fines and court fees, and was sentenced to perform 50 hours of community service which must be completed within 1 year. In November of 2006, one year after the incident, Busch was declared an honorary deputy in Maricopa County.
[edit] Changing teams
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 season to replace the retiring Rusty Wallace in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger, but Roush initially refused. However, after Chip Ganassi released Jamie McMurray from his 2006 contract, Roush followed suit. McMurray replaced Busch in the car[1], which was later renumbered from #97 to #26.
[edit] Personal life
Busch became engaged to girlfriend, Eva Bryan, while attending a Formula One race overseas in late July of 2005. On July 27, 2006, during an off weekend following the NEXTEL Cup Pocono race. Kurt Busch and Eva Bryan were married in Virginia. The footage was taped and later aired on national televison. The couple currently resides in North Carolina, and travels to racetracks each week together. Kurt's younger brother Kyle Busch also competes full-time in both the Nextel Cup Series and Busch series. The Busch's have two dogs, a Yorkshire Terrier named Ginger, and a Cairn Terrier named Jim.
[edit] Season statistics
| Year | Starts* | Wins | Top Fives | Top Tens | Poles | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48th |
| 2001 | 35 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 27th |
| 2002 | 36 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 1 | 3rd |
| 2003 | 36 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 11th |
| 2004 | 36 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 1 | 1st |
| 2005 | 34 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 10th |
| 2006 | 36 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 16th |
* - of 36 races
[edit] Tracks Busch has won at in NEXTEL Cup
- Bristol Motor Speedway
- Martinsville Speedway
- Atlanta Motor Speedway
- Homestead-Miami Speedway
- California Speedway
- Michigan International Speedway
- New Hampshire International Speedway (swept both races here in 2004)
- Pocono Raceway
- Richmond International Raceway
To date, Busch has won at Bristol 5 times, including a season sweep in 2003. That ties him with Jeff Gordon for the most wins at that track among active drivers.
[edit] Tracks Busch has won in Busch Series
Kurt Busch has won 2 career Busch series wins, both in 2006, and at Texas, Kurt continued his infamous "Snow Angel" celebration of which he still uses after a victory.
[edit] References
- ^ Gargill, David & Penn, Nate (2006). The Ten Most Hated Athletes. men.style.com. URL accessed on July 12, 2006.
- ^ Associated Press. Kurt Busch cited for reckless driving. NASCAR.com. URL accessed on July 12, 2006.
- ^ Associated Press. 'Last straw': Kurt Busch suspended for rest of season. ESPN.com. URL accessed on July 12, 2006.
- ^ East Valley Tribune. East Valley briefs: Busch court date postponed. URL accessed on July 12, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics at racing-reference.info
- 10 Questions with Kurt Busch - July 2005 interview of the defending Nextel Cup champ
| Preceded by Matt Kenseth |
NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion 2004 |
Succeeded by Tony Stewart |
| Preceded by Kevin Harvick |
IROC Champion IROC XVIII (2003) |
Succeeded by Matt Kenseth |
