Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is an idol for many youngsters coming up the ranks of motorsports today. As a child, he, too, had a favorite driver and a role model whom he wanted to take up after. It was none other than the legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr.
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Busch revealed in a recent interview that Earnhardt’s was one of the first or maybe even the first autographs he ever got. Veteran reporter Jeff Gluck asked on the 12 Questions series what he remembered about the moment.
Busch answered, “I can’t remember if it was (Dale) Earnhardt (Sr.) first or if it was John Elway first. Earnhardt was at Fletcher Jones Chevrolet in Vegas, and then Elway was at one of the other car dealerships in Vegas.”
He had made Earnhardt sign a No.3 black-colored car and Elway sign a football. He admitted that he did not know where the car currently is, but believes strongly that it ought to be in his father’s stash.
The football, however, is in his possession to date. Busch was also a fan of Elway growing up in Las Vegas. While his biggest passion was motorsports, he also followed football to a great extent.
Busch has said in interviews that he supported the Denver Broncos since Elway played for them. As for Earnhardt, Busch has cited multiple times to the press that he was inspired by the aggressive racing style that ‘The Intimidator’ followed on the track and it is what he attempted to replicate in his own career. Safe to say, he has done so successfully throughout all these years.
When does Busch not like fans approaching him for an autograph?
Busch isn’t always welcoming of fans who approach him to get a picture or an autograph. But this isn’t due to some type of narcissistic complex. It is rather a matter of basic decency. He said in the 2017 version of the 12 Questions Series that there was a manner in which drivers ought to be approached for an autograph.
Gluck had presented him with the hypothetical situation that a fan was approaching him while he was out with his family for dinner and asked what his reaction would be. Busch pointed out that the fan must come to him before he starts eating or after he is done eating.
He went, “But once that person, me, for instance, is picking up a hamburger and stuffing his face full of grease, don’t come over and ask for a picture or an autograph, you know what I mean?” Now, that’s only a reasonable ask from him.
