We all have our own personal stories of Kyle Busch, such was his lasting impact on the sport we love. And in the last week or so, we’ve really just scratched the surface. These stories will continue to come out as the weeks progress into months.
But despite the inexorable passage of time, the memory of Rowdy will not be dimmed, and God willing, at some point in the not too distant future, his son Brexton will pick up the torch and continue his father’s legacy.
Here are three of mine.
The very first NASCAR Cup Series race I ever watched was Busch’s inaugural victory at the two-mile lightning fast Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, or California Speedway as it was then known. Busch drove the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy that night in the Kellogg’s colors, with Tony the Tiger emblazoned across the hood.
I had come to NASCAR through work a few weeks earlier and I was, if I’m honest, not best pleased that stock car racing was going to be 90% of my day job. I had been sold on the role being focused primarily on the NFL with “some NASCAR,” but on day one I was told it would basically be entirely NASCAR. And as a Brit, growing up with Formula One, NASCAR was a whole ‘nother world to any form of racing I had seen before.
As you might imagine, the first race was a nearly four-hour blur of color, confusing terminology, and let’s be fair, a whole lot of confusion. I remember thinking that evening I should just quit and be done with it. Walk away and chalk it up to a big misunderstanding. I’m so very glad I didn’t.
I went back and watched the final few laps of that race this weekend. And there he was, the youngest winner in the Cup Series by four days at the tender age of 20 years, 4 months, 2 days. It’s a record that has since been eclipsed by both Joey Logano (19 years, 1 month, 4 days) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2009, then by Trevor Bayne with a shocker 2011 Daytona 500 win the day after his 20th birthday. But even all these years later, Kyle still sits third on the list.
After the obligatory burnout, Kyle celebrated wildly with his crew, the 31st race of what would turn out to be a 24-year, 63-win, 762-race career. This was, of course, before the days of the frontstretch interviews, but the joy of the driver and crew were clear to see.
That was a fresh-faced youngster in victory lane that September evening, still not old enough to officially drink a beer or vote, besting names that today are legends. Hall of Famers of our sport: Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his older brother Kurt, to name but a few.
And what was the first thing Kyle said, in answer to the first question from Dave Burns, after getting congratulations from his brother and a bearhug from team owner Rick Hendrick?
“It’s unbelievable,” Busch said. “You know, for how much joy we’re able to share for our first Nextel Cup win, I still want to be able to dedicate it to all those folks down in Louisiana and Mississippi [Hurricane Katrina had made landfall six days earlier]. I mean it’s a terrible devastation they’ve had to go through, and hey Mr. H, [Kyle beckons over his team owner] … We gonna donate your share and my share of these winnings to the Red Cross?”
“Absolutely, absolutely,” said Hendrick immediately.
My second memory of Kyle was a win at Richmond International Raceway, the spring race of the 2010 season. I was still, at the time, fairly new to covering races, so it was definitely a thrill to be at the racetrack. Actually, let me be clear here: It’s always a thrill to be at the racetrack, but you get my point.
This win was Kyle’s first of the season under new crew chief Dave Rogers, and the 17th of his illustrious Cup career, snapping what was then a 21-race winless streak.
The real fireworks at this very track had come in the spring race two years prior, when Kyle got into Junior with three laps to go. Denny Hamlin had led 381 laps of the race, eviscerating the field all night long, but a cut tire and a pit road penalty relegated him to mid-pack. Junior took the lead with 18 to go, as Hamlin’s tire gave up the ghost, and the crowd just about lost their collective mind. Then with just three laps to go, Kyle got into Junior in turn 3, turning the crowd favorite and ending his shot at a long awaited victory.
“Let me just tell you something, that isn’t going to go over too good right there,” opined Darrell Waltrip on commentary, and so it proved.
Fast-forward two years later to the race I attended. From the infield, I watched a clearly inebriated Junior fan signal to Busch lap by lap with the double birds as he led the first 140 laps. Eventually the Junior fan would get escorted away from his vantage point by track security and Busch would go on to win the race. Such was the emotion, on both ends of the spectrum, that Kyle could generate.
My final memory is much more recent. A week and a half ago, I was fortunate enough to be at Dover Motor Speedway, reporting for Frontstretch, and got to shoot and cover what turned out to be the last of Kyle’s combined 234 NASCAR victories. Driving the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, Busch started from the pole and led 147 laps of 200 laps on his way to a dominant final victory. It was a classic Kyle Busch beatdown, the 69th win of his Craftsman Truck Series career in his 184th start, an incredible 37.5% win rate.
While it is always a pleasure to watch a master wheelman like Busch tame a difficult track with such seemingly effortless ease, what sticks in my mind more is qualifying. As Busch awaited his turn, he walked alongside his truck, arms behind his back, calm, unflappable, a smirk on his face, seemingly at ease with it all.
At the end of the race, before I get to interview drivers, I always shoot the burnout and interview but for some reason, I decided to switch it up and video the interview and the signature bow. It’s a short clip I will always treasure.
Then the following day, as part of his media obligations, Busch came back to the media center for what is known as the Cup bullpen. Drivers are announced as they enter, and after his name was called, in his signature deadpan way, Busch said, “Just here 12 hours ago.”
Along with a few of my fellow media members, I rushed over to listen to what Kyle had to say. His “media availability,” as it is known, was always fascinating: a can’t-miss moment on any race weekend. And as usual, Kyle did not disappoint.
This weekend, I head to Nashville Superspeedway to cover the race weekend for Frontstretch. And without doubt, it will not seem the same. Rest in peace, legend. You will be sorely, sorely missed.
Danny Peters has written for Frontstretch since 2006. An English transplant living in San Francisco, by way of New York City, he’s had an award-winning marketing career with some of the biggest companies sponsoring sports. Working with racers all over the country, his freelance writing has even reached outside the world of racing to include movie screenplays.