Kurt Busch Still Carries the Lessons of His 2014 Indy 500 Journey Years Later

The 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch is all set to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Beginning his Cup career with Roush Racing in 2000, the former 23XI Racing driver raced for multiple teams before bowing out in 2022. One of the most notable achievements he made during this tenure was attempting the famed Memorial Day Double in 2014.

The Double is a challenge that demands drivers to complete both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Most recently, Hendrick Motorsports ace Kyle Larson took a shot at it and missed. Busch, too, didn’t complete all 1,100 miles of the challenge, but he did finish the Indianapolis 500 and learned some key lessons from it, which he still remembers today.

He recalled the greatest moments of his career for NASCAR media recently and spoke about what he took away from his foray into the IndyCar Series. Heading into the famed 500-mile-long open-wheeled race, he believed that he could beat half the field just on experience. He was also under the assumption that if he used the initial part of the race to learn the car, he could somehow find a way to move to the front in later stages.

These ideas did work. Just not like he expected them to. He said, “When you go to qualify, though, they just turn up the boost; they take all the downforce off. And when you go from 218 mph to 231 mph, you can’t even get those belts any tighter. I felt I was over my ski tips.” Busch also had to expertly avoid a crash during the race to keep himself in contention for a good finish.

Seven years later, Kurt Busch finishing 6th in the 2014 Indy 500 is one of the most random and impressive moments of the last decade pic.twitter.com/L96QMAIMHz

— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) November 2, 2021

While he got into the car hoping to win, he had to settle for sixth place, and he was more than content with it. He continued, “I could have been an IndyCar driver. It taught me that my soul is a NASCAR driver. That’s what it taught me.” He was expected to attempt the Double once again in 2016, but that plan fell through. Nevertheless, he did join an elite list of drivers who attempted the Memorial Day feat.

The primary reason why he decided to try it out is even more interesting. Following a series of on-track outbursts and behavioural incidents during the 2011 season, his team, Team Penske, had decided to terminate him. While they agreed to mutually part, Busch held some hard feelings in his heart and wanted to prove himself to Roger Penske.

He also held the belief that Penske should have let him try the IndyCar out while he still drove for them. He wanted to make a point by beating all the Penske cars on the field in the Indy 500. Unfortunately, though, Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya got the better of him at the finish line.