NASCAR Cup Series veteran Kurt Busch is one of the most talented yet fierce drivers the sport has ever seen. The Las Vegas native made his debut in the sport back in 2001 and managed to grab the elusive championship title only in his third full-time season. But how did the title win come about, and more importantly, how did Busch cope with the same?
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Racing for Jack Roush at the time, Busch descended from a family affiliated with racing only at the grassroots level. As the now 46-year-old recalls, being teammates with an icon such as Mark Martin as a young upstart meant he had his work cut out for him.
Graduating into the big leagues only after one year in the junior Truck Series, Busch was undoubtedly the underdog competing for the championship in 2004. “The only thing that made sense to me was the gas pedal on the right side,” recalled Busch.
However, the raw talent that carried him to his hurried introduction to the highest echelon of stock car racing ultimately paid off with a championship victory in 2004.
Speaking of how the highs of the same affected him as an individual, he remembered, “There’s the chance to sit there and go, ‘You know what, I did something pretty special and I hope I’m able to do it again.’ Because when you’re on top of Mount Everest, it seems like it’s easy to get knocked off. That’s one thing I should have prepared a little better for.”
On this day in 2004, Kurt Busch won the cup series championship! pic.twitter.com/XKRja2LGMs
— Nascarpixtures (@Nascarpixtures) November 21, 2020
“To be treated like NASCAR royalty, and to have different morning shows to talk about the sponsors to talk about the events that had happened was awesome,” he recalled, attesting to the weight of the Jim France trophy and what it means for a driver in his career.
The former #45 Toyota driver for 23XI Racing also had one thing that several drivers, his brother included, seldom have in NASCAR. Sponsorship stability. Monster Energy, the popular energy drinks manufacturer sponsored Busch for a total of 12 years, carrying him into the second half of his career as an elder statesman of the sport, driving for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.
“We were together for 12 years. That was the whole second half of my career and I’m so very grateful to them,” he said of their partnership recently.
While Kurt Busch might not have ended his time in NASCAR the way he would have wanted with a career-ending crash at Pocono, he remains one of stock car racing’s old-school racers, often known for their temper behind the wheel, and their likable nature outside the car.
