Kyle Busch on “The Main Reason” Why He Got Into Racing and NASCAR Eventually

Every driver has their own story of how they fell in love with racing, where it all began for them, and the journey that has led them to NASCAR today. For Kyle Busch though, that seed of love was planted because of his family. His father, Tom Busch, was a racecar driver in his own right when Busch was growing up. And his influence on the future 2x Cup champion’s love for racing was immense.

This was something Busch opened up on last year. During an interview on a podcast at Audiodrama, Busch was asked about whether the experience of racing with his father impacted his relationship with racing. “A lot,” Busch replied.

“He was basically the main reason why I got into racing. If you ask my mom, she wanted me to be an orthodontist. Having that time of just being able to understand, having my dad teach me … my dad had a normal job and was home and we would travel on the weekends and race together … my dad and some of his other good friends who are in racing, we all worked together, I learned all from them.”

Kyle Busch recalls hilarious repainting story with his father

During the same interview, Busch recalled a hilarious story of the time when he wanted his father to repaint one of their racecars, which he called one of his fondest memories. After a whole year of winning races and a championship, Rowdy was trying to talk his father into repainting the car.

“We should tear the car apart, we should repaint it, make it look pretty for the next year,” he described. “He was like, ‘Hell no. We’re not spending that money. We’re not doing that. Why do you need to look good to go out there and win races?'”

Busch had an idea to tear it down to the bare chassis so his father would have no other option but to repaint it, which is exactly what he did. He tore the car down to a “complete nothing,” which when his father saw, he went, “‘Cool, good job. Did you learn anything about tearing it apart? Now you can put it back together.'”

In the end, he agreed to buy some spray bombs, and some new nuts to freshen it up, but still insisted against repainting it.