It’s Tuesday night this week, I’m on my way to work. To pass the time sitting at the bar waiting for dinner, I was on my phone, scrolling and clicking through all the posts and stories speculating that Kurt Busch will announce his retirement as a NASCAR Race Cup Series. On Saturday morning at his hometown racetrack at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he announced that he is giving up racing full time.
The man sitting next to me was reading the whole thing on my shoulder and finally tapped that shoulder, followed by a three-question question.
“Hey man, how many Cup races has Kurt Busch won?”
I quickly replied, “34.”
“Hey man, how many of those people do you think you went directly to?”
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I quickly replied, “Probably 25 of them.”
“Hey man, really, what do you think happens more often, do you see Kurt Busch win a race or he curses you in the face?”
OK, this one I had to think about. For a long while. It’s been days since I was asked the question and I still don’t know the answer. And that’s really all you need to know about the complicated, one-stop-shop couple of fate that is the legacy of Kurt Busch.
The winner versus the puller.
For nearly a quarter of a century, Busch has made a living off of NASCAR’s flagship series. He has actually won 34 races, placing him 25th on the all-time winning list, just ahead of members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Fireball Roberts and Dale Jarrett. In the case of his titles are victories in the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600. Among his uncounted wins are one each in the NASCAR All-Star Race, Bud Shootout and even an IROC championship. His 28 columns are 28th of all time. His 10,292 laps led to 21st. His 339 top 10s are 15th. Busch has won all three national series, and he has won at least one race for all three producers. current – Ford, Chevy and Toyota – and he won 10 races in the long-departed Dodge. He won races driving cars owned by Jack Roush, Roger Penske, Tony StewartChip Ganassi and also Michael Jordan.
– Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) October 15, 2022
Busch survived the most nail biting moments ever seen in the NASCAR championship season finale. In 2004, the first iteration of the Chase/Playoff era, he coldly peeled off a blown right front tire and nearly slipped the water tank at the end of the Homestead-Miami Speedway pit wall. He finished the race as champion. He fought with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. He banged on the door with Ricky Craven at Darlington, in perhaps the most thrilling NASCAR ending of this century. He owns the Bristol Motor Speedway. Just 5 months ago, he won the Kansas Speedway, taking his 34th win at the age of 43. Oops, he entered the NHRA Pro Stock race and won the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year.
But every year and seemingly every great moment in Busch’s inevitable career gets his first vote in the NASCAR Hall of Fame invariably tied by a “yes, but…”
He burst onto the Cup Series stage. Yes, but the remarkable early success in the 2003-04 season that led to that Cup title is remembered by many for his ongoing feud with Jimmy “Mr. Excitement” Spencer as well as his seven victories. it for two years.
He won his Cup title with Roush Racing. Yes, but leaving his team became difficult as Roush felt as if Busch hadn’t given him a fair warning about the driver leaving Penske Racing, and that he missed out on the big moments. What will be his last race with Roush after he was parked by NASCAR for the DUI citation and the resulting clash with the police in Phoenix.
He won 10 races for Roger Penske. Yes, but after he was fined $50,000 for shouting at ESPN pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch, the Captain had seen enough and they parted ways.
He landed at Phoenix Racing and took on the underdog role, even running Ricky Bobby’s “ME” cougar show in Talladega. Yes, but he was also on probation for an incident with Ryan Newman at Darlington and was suspended for a race the following week when he responded to a question from reporter Bob Pockrass about his conduct while on probation by saying, “It makes it impossible for me to beat the people — get out of you right now because you ask me stupid questions.”
Six months feud with brother Kyle Busch had to be fixed by Grandma on Thanksgiving. Radio with obscene content. Got to fire reporter Joe Menzer from Richmond. Denied that he said something on live television, was shown a transcript of it and then tore the papers and dropped them in front of Associated Press reporter Jenna Fryer.
We all have those stories. Somewhere in the ESPN video library is a clip of Kurt Busch answering my question about the Darlington crash to a question about my relationship with my mother. Marty Smith has a clip of him having to explain why he and Busch got into a melee at the Michigan Speedway media center on YouTube.
We are all grown up. We can take it. I just never understood why we had to.
In 2010, I wrote a story for ESPN Magazine where I sat down with the Busch brothers, after two years of questioning. Kurt convinced me that he and his brother had changed their ways. I believed him. But a year later, I wrote a confession and partially retracted it. Kurt is not merely unchanged, he is worse. In 2015, his strange relationship with girlfriend Patricia Driscoll led to a high profile case and allegation of domestic violence that eclipsed that year’s Daytona 500. He was suspended again, this time just two days before the Great American Race. It’s a shame for this sport, so The suspension remains in effect even after investigators determine that a crime is not being prosecuted against racers. When he was allowed to return, what did he do? He won two races and appeared in the post-season field, despite missing the first three races of the year.
To be clear, he’s certainly not alone when it comes to tantrums, even those that have crossed the line. Tony Stewart is a dynamite, Kevin Harvic, and of course, brother Kyle. But the others, even Smoke, their rage came in waves. Kurt Busch is a non-stop tsunami. When it doesn’t happen, it’s a surprise. A pleasant thing. Even now, as he has aged with age, it still catches one off guard. That’s what always makes it so infuriating when he opens the window to show us all he can be a better person. You always know it will be closed.
Perhaps the most insightful conversation I’ve ever had with a vintage race car driver was the one I did with Busch in the midst of the tumultuous days of the mid-2010s. the value of the person behind the wheel compared to the machine the driver drives. Does the driver still matter in the technical age? He really excelled at explaining how he was able to turn once-low races like Phoenix Racing and Furniture Row Racing into regular competitors. He told me, “My road has not been easy. But what it has done has reminded me how exciting this can be. And in the end, no one has that steering wheel in their hands. beyond me.”
That same year, I produced a TV series in which modern racers spend time with the legends of the past. Busch joined our pilot, sitting with Buddy Baker. He’s funny, brilliant, respectful, and downright likable. I knew then he was going to be great on television, and when current networks have put him in the booth, he has been. But by the weekend the show premiered, he had unleashed such a vulgar rage on the team radio that his then-boss, Roger Penske, waited for him in the garage. to drag him into the team van and yell at him to get down.
Incredible achievement*. Ridiculous talent*. Limitless potential *.
* Yeah, but… * Yeah, but… * Yeah, but…
He left the race full-time accompanied by another asterisk, although an asterisk was not made by him, suffered concussion-like symptoms after a training accident at Pocono Raceway in late July. But his departure from the garage raises another question, new but also familiar. Kurt Busch did a lot. He will be the first to vote in the NASCAR Family Hall and if I am lucky enough to remain a voter when he is eligible, I will vote for him immediately. But I also knew the question would be asked in that room. That’s the question that always comes up when his name is mentioned and always will be.
What can Kurt Busch really do if all else doesn’t get in the way?
