Driver Profile: Kyle Busch, NASCAR’s Guilty Pleasure

Admit it fans- even if you hate Kyle Busch, even if you think he’s the absolute scum of the earth, you know NASCAR needs a guy like him. I am sometimes mystified, perhaps you can help me understand, why the same people who want more color in the world of NASCAR are also the people that hate Kyle Busch the most.

People won’t admit to it in a crowd, but deep down inside that “devil may care” attitude appeals to more than they’ll admit to.

Perhaps its his West Coast roots. Shrub doesn’t have a shred of good ol’ boy in him. Maybe its his rivalry with the beloved Crown Prince of NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. It could be that old school fans loathe the Toyota Camrys that Busch drives. More likely its just that “I don’t give a rat’s tookus what you think” reaction to fans. Kurt’s younger brother has been compared to Dale Earnhardt Sr., but let’s face it, other than that ability to thread the needle and fearlessness to weave through the heavy traffic, Busch and Earnhardt couldn’t be more different. Earnhardt, even in his darkest days, knew he had something of a following- those who could appreciate the man’s struggle for survival that would give rise to a “take no prisoners” mentality on the track. If Dale didn’t win, his family didn’t eat. Kyle Busch began his career on a golden track.

Kyle Thomas Busch has racing in his blood. Born May 2, 1985- “Rowdy” is son to stock car driver Tom Busch and younger brother to NASCAR veteran Kurt. Busch got his start puttering around in a makeshift go-kart at the age of 6. Kyle’s legs were too short to reach the pedals, so he’d work the wheel while dad mashed on the gas and the brake.

Another way in which Kyle was different from Dale Sr. was in the area of his education. While Earnhardt dropped out of high school to pursue his NASCAR dreams, Busch was a straight-A student at Durango High. “No grades, no racing” was the rule in the Busch house. Kyle attacked his studies the way he attacks his opponent’s rear bumper and he finished a year early to get started on his racing career. His parents also made him pay for his ride. So if Kyle wrecked, there was no race next weekend.

Kyle got his first taste of racing at 13. From 1999 to 2001, Busch won 65 races and 2 championships at “The Bullring” at Las Vegas. You may remember Busch made reference to his “short track” days when he edged out Jimmie Johnson for a win earlier this summer checking up on Johnson before exploding to a finish.

Busch made his Craftsman Truck Series at the age of 16 before a rules change stalled his first attempt at a NASCAR career. Undeterred, Kyle terrorized the ASA tracks on behalf of Roush Racing for a number of top 5s and top 10s and he also won his first start at the Nashville Superspeedway in the ARCA/REMAX series.

At the age of 18, Busch returned to NASCAR to make his debut in what we now call the Nationwide Series. At Charlotte, he finished second in his NNS series debut, driving the #87 Ditech.com Chevrolet for the NEMCO team. In 2003 Kyle also ran for Rick Hendrick in the ARCA series and picked up wins at Kentucky and Nashville.

In 2004, the Rowdy one amassed 5 wins in the Nationwide Series driving the #5 for HMS. Some were surprised that Busch elected to go with Hendrick over running with his brother at Roush. Busch was 2nd in the points, good enough to capture Rookie Of The Year honors. Kyle also made his Cup debut at his home track at Las Vegas on on March 7th. His 41st place finish was indicative of his maiden Cup voyage with 4 DNFs in 6 races.

Busch was called on in 2005 to take over the #5 ride for the “retiring” Terry Labonte. He also cut back on his Nationwide schedule to 14 races, picking up a win at NASCAR’s “JV” level. Kyle cracked the victory column on September 4 at Fontana in his 31st career start. He wouldn’t have to wait long to get career win #2, taking the checkered flag at the Fall, 2005 Phoenix event. Busch ended up 20th in the Cup standings, but won Rookie Of The Year at NASCAR’s top level. He also won 3 races in the CTS, becoming the youngest to ever win a NASCAR truck race at 20 years, 19 days. In Cup racing, “Wild Thing” became the youngest driver to capture a pole and the youngest to win a race.

2006 had its ups and downs for Busch. He made the Chase, but only won a single Cup race at New Hampshire. We began to see shades of what was to come from the tempestuous Busch. He threw his HANS device at Casey Mears after a fender bender at Lowe’s. Busch also collected a Nationwide win and he accomplished something special in the truck series. In a race at Lowe’s, Busch adopted a “Rowdy Burns” paint scheme in honor of Bobby Hamilton, who was the stunt driver for the character in “Days Of Thunder.” Busch won the event. Hamilton lost his battle with cancer later that year.

Kyle added another impressive accomplishment to his resume by winning the first race with NASCAR’s new platform, the “Car of Tomorrow” at Bristol in March of 2007. Unimpressed, Busch said the car “sucked.” Something else telling occurred in this season when Shrub wrecked at Texas. Kyle stormed off, so that when the car was repaired, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (who’s #8 went out earlier) finished turning laps in Busch’s ride. By June, Junior announced he was departing DEI for Hendrick and Busch would be moving on. Later in the summer, Busch announced his move to Joe Gibbs Racing, where we would take over J.J. Yeley’s #18 ride. In a move that would have made Cain proud, Kyle got together with his brother Kurt at the All-Star weekend race at Charlotte, taking both Busch’s out of the race. Winning in trucks still came naturally for Kyle with wins at Atlanta and Phoenix. He also finished his Nationwide career with HMS in high style with wins at Daytona, Kansas and Phoenix, his final start in the #5.

When Busch joined on board with Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart at Joe Gibbs, many wondered how these three strong personalities would mix. The new driver for the #18 M&M’s Camry upstaged his elder teammates- getting Toyota their first win in the Cup series at Atlanta. Kyle tore it up figuratively and literally- winning and crashing wherever he went. At one point in time, there was discussion Busch would win all three national touring series for NASCAR, though Busch would curb his CTS schedule. All told, Busch won 8 Cup races, 10 Nationwide races, and 3 CTS races- a combined record for wins with 21.Busch also picked up impressive wins on both road courses and he whipped Talladega after several unsuccessful runs there.

Along with the wins, Busch collected a lot of adversaries. Let’s add them up: during the course of the season, Kyle Busch had run-ins with Stephen Wallace, Ron Hornaday and Carl Edwards- but NONE got him in more trouble when he tapped Dale Jr. Earnhardt appeared headed for a win that looked like it would break a long dry spell in Richmond when Busch got into Earnhardt. Busch said it was hard racing, but numerous fans felt otherwise. All kinds of hatred rose out of the conflict, and poor Busch’s mom even got booed over Mother’s Day weekend. All the ugliness seemed to put more wind in Busch’s sails. He’d sarcastically pretend to wipe away tears, count off his wins in victory lane on his fingers like a football mascot doing push-ups after a touchdown, and then he’d do that trademark bow. Edwards scored major “cool points’ with fans when he got into Busch at the second Bristol race of the season. While Edwards was doing a victory lap, Busch banged into Cousin Carl, followed by a love tap from Edwards that made the crowd go nuts.

By the Chase, Busch fell as quickly as he rose. Jimmie Johnson started catching fire, Greg Biffle was getting hot, Edwards was making his presence felt, when suddenly Busch fell apart. It was one disaster after another for Busch- with DNFs at New Hampshire and Dover. Only respectable run at the tail end of the season took the sting out of Kyle’s up and down season.

What gets lost in all the drama is not only the fact that Busch is a smart guy, he’s also involved in quite a bit of charity work. Kyle was very involved in doing the cancer walks, helping at-risk children and in a move that not only helped someone in need but paid homage to a NASCAR pioneer, Busch donated the winnings from his Nationwide win at Texas to Sam Ard- who now suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

Hate him if you will, but you can’t ignore him. Busch is too good- proving his value as a driver time and time again, regardless of level. Besides, if you’re looking for emotion, Kyle Busch doesn’t wear it on his sleeve, he slathers it on his fire suit.

Oh, one more thing: he ain’t going away. Besides, if he gets too out of control, you know Coach Gibbs will reel him in.