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Kurt Busch

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Kurt Busch
Awards2000 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year

2003 IROC champion

2004 NEXTEL Cup Champion
NASCAR Cup Series career
2006 position16th
Best finish1st - 2004 (NEXTEL Cup)
First race2000 MBNA.com 400 (Dover)
First win2002 Food City 500 (Bristol)
Last win2006 Food City 500 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles
15 94 9
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
Car no., team
  1. 12 - Penske Racing
First race2006 O'Reilly 300 (Texas)
First win2006 O'Reilly 300 (Texas)
Last win2006 Zippo 200 (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 8 1
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
First race2000 Daytona 250 (Daytona)
Last race2001 GNC Live Well 200 (Milwaukee)
First win2000 Sears DieHard 200 (Milwaukee)
Last win2000 Motorola 200 (California)
Wins Top tens Poles
4 17 4

Kurt Thomas 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 #12 Penske Truck Rental Dodge. In 2004, he finished 8 points ahead of Jimmie Johnson to win the NASCAR Nextel Cup series championship in the first ever season using the "Chase for the Cup" points format. 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).

Kurt is a second-generation NASCAR driver and winner of the inaugural “Chase for the NEXTEL Cup” in 2004, Busch was also the runner-up finisher in the closest finish in the sport’s history at Darlington Raceway on March 16, 2003. After an exciting and near-explosive two-lap side-by-side battle with Ricky Craven around the tight and tricky 1.366-mile track, Craven crossed the finish line only 0.002 seconds ahead of Busch in the photo-finish.

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 Busch Grand National Series, whilst overlooking Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch's more experienced teammate.

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

Busch began racing on the Winston Cup circuit in 2000, at the age of 22. He replaced Chad Little in the #97 John Deere Ford. His first race in the Winston Cup was in Dover in September 2000, 1 month after his 21st birthday. 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.

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.

2002 was Kurt's breakout year in NASCAR. He almost won the championship that year, scoring 4 wins, 12 top 5s and 20 top 10s, with one pole, ending up third in the final standings. He finished the season particularly strong, winning three out of the final five races and finishing 3rd and 6th and leading many laps in the other two. He also collected $5,105,394.

Halfway through the 2006 season, his first racing for Penske Racing South, he has taken one win at Bristol Motor Speedway, and has collected 7 top 10 finishes.

Feuds with rival drivers

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. 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, Jimmy Spencer reached into Busch's car, grabbed him, and punched Busch in the nose. Kurt first claimed that his car stalled out 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] His temper got the better of him again on June 4, 2007 in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway. After a crash with Tony Stewart he drove into Stewart's car on pit road, nearly hitting a member of Stewart's pit crew. Kurt was penalized 100 owner's points, fined $100,000, and placed on probation until the end of the year.

Alleged drunk-driving charge

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. His younger brother, Kyle, won the race that weekend at Phoenix International Raceway and voiced his support for his older brother while in victory lane.

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 2006, one year after the incident, Busch was declared an honorary deputy in Maricopa County.

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.

Personal life

Busch became engaged to girlfriend, Eva Bryan, while attending the 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix. 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 television. The couple currently resides in North Carolina, and travels to racetracks each week together. Kurt's younger brother Kyle Busch (aka Little Busch) also competes full-time in both the Nextel Cup Series and Busch series. The Busches have two dogs, a Yorkshire Terrier named Ginger, and a Cairn Terrier named Jim. The Busch's and their dogs are featured in the NASCAR Pets calender. Busch is also an avid fan of the Chicago Cubs.

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 12 25 1 1st
2005 34 3 9 18 0 10th
2006 36 1 7 12 6 16th

* - of 36 races

Tracks Busch has won at in NEXTEL Cup

To date, Busch has won at Bristol 5 times. That ties him with Jeff Gordon for the most wins at that track among active drivers.

Tracks Busch has won in Busch Series

Kurt Busch has 2 career Busch series wins and 1 pole in only 7 career starts, all in 2006, and at Texas, Kurt continued his infamous snow angel celebration of which he still uses after a victory.

References

  1. ^ Gargill, David & Penn, Nate (2006). The Ten Most Hated Athletes. men.style.com. URL accessed on July 12, 2006.
  2. ^ Associated Press. Kurt Busch cited for reckless driving. NASCAR.com. URL accessed on July 12, 2006.
  3. ^ Associated Press. 'Last straw': Kurt Busch suspended for rest of season. ESPN.com. URL accessed on July 12, 2006.
  4. ^ East Valley Tribune. East Valley briefs: Busch court date postponed. URL accessed on July 12, 2006.
Preceded by NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion
2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by IROC Champion
IROC XVIII (2003) 		Succeeded by
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