Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

nascar:

Younger Busch using lessons learned in Vegas

Family recalls hometown NASCAR star’s beginnings behind the wheel

Sam's Town 300

Sam Morris

Kyle Busch’s crew works on his car before the Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 on Saturday.

Scenes of NASCAR

NASCAR fans and workers find ways to entertain themselves and the crowds at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Sprint for Kids

The Sprint for Kids Challenge was held at Pole Position Raceway in Las Vegas Thursday, February 26, 2009. Busch and other NASCAR celebrities participated in the team endurance kart race to benefit the Kurt Busch Foundation.

Sam's Town 300

Greg Biffle gets congratulated by teammate Carl Edwards after holding him off at the end of the Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 Saturday, February 28, 2009 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Launch slideshow »

NASCAR Qualifying Day

Kyle Busch stands in as best man as Damon Landry and Heather Wilson are wed by track chaplain Bruce Brown after qualifying for the Shelby 427 Sprint Cup race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday, February 27, 2009. Landry and Wilson were in the middle of their wedding ceremony in winner's circle when Busch arrived for a photo session. When Busch noticed the ceremony taking place, he left the photographers and stood in as best man for Landry. Launch slideshow »

Before there was the No. 18 Toyota Camry, NASCAR weekends and making history, there was just a Las Vegas kid who loved to watch his dad and older brother race.

Whether you love him or not – and few feel somewhere in between – the intensity of 23-year-old Kyle Busch is often admired. Somewhere in between his father's dirt track races and his brother's first go-kart, the kid fell in love with racing and has dedicated his life to the sport ever since.

"Basically, what happened was our family was always out at the race track watching their dad," his mother, Gaye, said. "We went out on Saturday nights and they would take it all in. When Kurt was around 14, he said he wanted to try it. So my husband and him built a dwarf car for him to run around the dirt track.

“So now you've got Kyle watching his dad and his older brother race, so he automatically got the bug to do it, too."

At first, it was 6-year-old Kyle taking turns with his brother, Kurt, driving around crushed aluminum cans in a go-kart Gaye describes as, "a frame with four wheels."

Nowadays, Kyle Busch is performing consistently well in all three national circuits: Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series. He finished in the top 15 of each in 2008 and made NASCAR history last Saturday at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., when he became the first driver ever to capture two national touring series in the same day.

Racing three different series means three sets of practice, three vehicles to maintain and three styles to master. On some weekends, fans can see Kyle running back and forth between garages.

So, why doesn't he focus all of his efforts on just one?

"I like being on the track a lot more than sitting in the motor home watching the action. It's a lot of fun for me to run every race,” he said. “The only time when it gets hard are the practices. NASCAR sets the practices so tight, you're always jumping back and forth between them all. There's a lot of running around. But once Sunday comes, everything settles down."

Tight practices don't stop Kyle from climbing into as many vehicles as he can. Few things have stood in his way.

High school didn't. His first NASCAR race came during his sophomore year at Durango High School. Just 16 years old, he would go to class during the day and fly to the race track for the weekend. He started taking summer school classes in the eighth grade to graduate a year early.

Injuries haven't. When he was 14 and racing Legends cars, Kyle was under the hood changing the oil while his father, Tom, was welding in the front. One of the sparks from Tom's torch found its way through the engine and grazed Kyle's eye.

He went to the hospital and was fitted with an eye patch for the weekend. He wore it, went out and won a race.

"Another time, he just about sliced his finger off," Gaye remembered. "I was rushing into the track and I saw Kurt rushing out of it with him, yelling he had cut himself. I was like, 'oh, boy.' I guess they had been using a pry bar and it slipped and about took his finger off. They rushed him to the hospital where they patched it up and he came back and raced."

Then came a NASCAR rule stating drivers had to be at least 18 years old. Kyle waited, and in 2004 became the youngest driver ever named Busch Series Rookie of the Year.

"That's just him and the way he is," said older brother, Kurt. "Our father brought him up in a good environment, mainly with his attitude around the cars. We had to work on them before we could race them, so now Kyle knows the work that needs to be put into them. You have to be prepared before you hit the race track and that's what Kyle is."

Although one of the youngest in the sport, Kyle Busch has been mentioned as a candidate for a spot on the new Formula One racing team, USF1, hoping to compete in 2010. The project is spearheaded by former F1 engineer Ken Anderson and ex-F1 team manager Peter Windsor. Busch has expressed curiosity, but he said now would be too premature.

"I toss the idea around — it's definitely something I wouldn't shoot down," Kyle Busch said. "But I don't think it's the right time yet in my career. I'm happy where I'm at. The focus here is to go for Nationwide and Cup championships. If I could do that here in the next two or three years, then I wouldn't mind trying it for a few years."

His demeanor outside the car, at times, has alienated him from some NASCAR fans. In some circles he has developed the image of an arrogant, impersonable driver who doesn’t care what people think.

Those closest to Kyle say it's his intense desire to win that makes him appear cold.

“Kyle's intensity is genuine. He's at his best when he's strapped into that race car,” said Kyle's crew chief, Steve Addington. “That's where he's comfortable. Sometimes, being outside of the car isn't his best suit but he's pretty damn good when he's in it."

After spinning out in the 22nd lap of Saturday's Sam's Town 300 Nationwide Series race, Kyle will get another chance to earn his first national touring series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during Sunday afternoon's Shelby 427. He said a win on the track where his racing dreams began would be extra special.

"It's always fun to come back to Vegas but it's just great going to a race track every weekend," he said. "Every kid who loves racing dreams of doing this and not a lot of people get the chance to experience it the way I do."

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy