The Colorful Career of Kurt Busch

On Saturday, Kurt Busch announced his retirement from fulltime competition. After suffering a concussion during practice at Pocono Raceway in July, Busch had been unable to return to competition this season. He bowed out of the playoffs before the season finale at Daytona and Ty Gibbs has been filling in for him. Now, Busch is retiring at least a season before many expected him to hang it up. If Busch is able to be cleared during the 2023 season, he does hope to be able to run select events. However, the issues stemming from his concussion have left him no other choice then to retire from championship chasing.

Kurt Busch’s retirement continue to shine a bright spotlight on the issues with the Next Gen car. Not only has the Next Gen car forced two drivers out of the playoffs, but it has ended the career of one of NASCAR’s most interesting drivers. There is plenty of time to have conversation about NASCAR, the Next Gen car, and concussion issues. However, that is not what this article is about. Instead, this article is going to look at the long and colorful career of Kurt Busch.

Over his 23 years in the Cup Series, Kurt Busch has racked up 34 wins (ranking him 25th all time) and one championship. His career average finish is 16.1. Busch accomplished all of this while racing for seven different Cup Series teams. He split his 34 wins across five of those teams. In addition to that, Busch has collected a win with four different manufacturers. Busch is going to finish his fulltime career by winning at least one race in each of his last nine seasons. His career longevity made him the last driver running who raced with Dale Earnhardt.

While his career accomplishments are something to admire, Kurt Busch’s career will be remembered for both on-and-off track incidents. Known as a hothead behind the wheel, Busch’s antics made him a frequent guest in NASCAR’s official hauler. Memorable incidents with Jimmy Spencer, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, and various reporters plague his career. Seemingly unable to control his mouth, Busch frequently cursed at/to reporters. His anger issues led to a multitude of fines, probationary periods, and a suspension. Unfortunately, Busch’s off-track incidents extended outside of NASCAR. A 2005 DUI saw his time with Roush Racing end two races early. Worse though, Busch has the dubious honor of being the first driver suspended for domestic violence under NASCAR’s personal conduct policy.

For younger or newer NASCAR fans, the Kurt Busch of old would come as a surprise. Today, Busch is an elder statesman of the sport. He has mentored young drivers within the teams he ran for. His anger has mostly stayed in check during this stretch of his career. Monster Energy made him an ambassador for their brand, which will continue even after his retirement. To see fans genuinely upset to see Kurt go is a far cry from his ranking as the third most hated athlete in 2006. Kurt Busch’s career has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Ugly

Calling Kurt Busch a controversial NASCAR driver is completely fair. While he has calmed in his later years, you cannot look at Busch’s career without discussing his uglier moments. His confrontation with police over his 2005 DUI was the first major incident outside of the track for Busch. Roush completely severed ties to Busch after the incident despite him being the reigning Cup Series champion. They distanced themselves even after he left, changing the Roush’s fifth car number from 97 to 26.

That run-in with the law is minor compared to his 2014 domestic violence accusation. Patricia Driscoll, Busch’s girlfriend at the time, accused Busch of assaulting her in his motorhome during Dover’s race weekend. NASCAR suspended Busch indefinitely based on a civil court’s protection order against the driver. Charges were dropped in 2015, which also saw Busch’s suspension end after missing the first two races of the 2015 season. While no charges were brought to trial against Kurt Busch, any domestic violence accusation leaves a mark on an athlete’s career.

The Bad

Driver Rivalries

No stranger to feeling the ire of other drivers, Kurt Busch racked up plenty of rivalries during the first half of his career. The most notable one has to be the one with Jimmy Spencer. Any NASCAR fan of the early 2000s can clearly remember Kurt gesturing at Spencer after being wrecked at the Brickyard 400. The two’s rivalry started at Bristol in 2002 after Kurt bumped Jimmy out of the way during the race. Spencer responded by dumping Busch at the Brickyard (leading to the memorable moment). It culminated with Spencer giving Busch a broken nose in 2003 at Michigan. Despite all that drama, the two were able to settle their differences and become friends.

Kurt Busch’s driver incidents is a long list. In 2011, Kurt Busch was placed on a probationary period after bumping into Ryan Newman’s car after the Southern 500. Similar to what Ty Gibbs did to Sam Mayer’s car, Busch bumped into Newman’s car on pit road with people all around. This caused Newman’s gas man to go after Busch.

Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch traded paint numerous times. Busch got under Johnson’s skin so badly that it led to Johnson spinning Busch at Richmond in 2011. This led to Busch calling Johnson the “five-time chump-ion”. Busch’s list of other drivers he had incidents with include Greg Biffle, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, and Tony Stewart.

It is one thing to have on-track run-in with another drivers; its another thing to have one with your younger brother. During the 2007 All-Star Race, Kurt and Kyle Busch made contact that eventually led to both crashing out of the event. After the race, the brothers argued on pit road and refused to reconcile the following week. The two would not talk to each other for the next six moths. Only after grandma intervene during Thanksgiving did the brothers reconcile their differences. If grandma had to get involved, you know there was some bad blood there.

Verbal Tirades Against Reporters

One of the best things about going to a race is listening to the drivers over a scanner. It gives a fan great insight to the raw emotions of the drivers before the polished versions come out for interviews. For Kurt Busch, his raw emotions came through during interviews as well. Known as a hothead, Busch has had many negative interactions with NASCAR media members. Busch’s filter was non-existent during the late 2000s/early 2010s.

While on his probationary period in 2012, Busch ran a Xfinity Series race where he became frustrated with Justin Allaier. After the race, Bob Pockrass asked Kurt if his probation changed how he drove during the race. Busch responded by saying his probation stopped him from “beating the [expletive] out of” him because he asks stupid questions. That exchange landed Kurt with a one race suspension and a $50,000 fine. It also extended Busch’s probationary period.

2011 was the banner year for Busch’s bad interactions with media members. At Homestead, Busch flipped the bird while taking his car to the garage and cursed out Jerry Punch while waiting for an interview. This incident played into Kurt Busch and Penske parting ways after the 2011 season. That same season at New Hampshire, Busch lashing out at Jamie Little while walking to the grid before a race. At Richmond, Busch had to be restrained from going after Joe Menzer. During a press conference where Jenna Fryer asked Jimmie Johnson about a quote from Busch, Busch interrupted to claim he did not say what was asked. When he was handed the transcript as proof, Busch tore it up.

The Good

Redemption

After the 2011 season, Kurt Busch said he went to see a sports psychologist to help with his anger management. While that helped, there were still the occasional flare-ups. However after returning from suspension in 2015, Kurt Busch has mellowed out. The help that Busch sought out clearly helped him greatly. Seeing a driver go from out-of-control hothead to a calm leader of younger drivers is impressive. While Kurt has a history of horrible behavior in his past, he has been able to get the help he needed and turn his career around. Hitting rock bottom professionally and driving for Phoenix Racing to being a consistent contender in the Round of 8 is a hell of redemption arc.

Formerly one of the most hated drivers in the sport has become a driver to support. When Busch’s name is announced during pre-race ceremonies, the crowd cheers for him. As former rival to the media members, Busch has turned into one by being an analyst for Fox. His time in the TV booth calling races is generally well received. The hope is that Busch is a full-time analyst for at least the Truck Series next year.  While there are certain things from his past that some might not be able to get past, Busch’s redemption cannot be denied. Once known as the “Outlaw” of NASCAR, Busch has been able to quell his hothead tendencies and turn into a fan favorite.

On-Track Success

Kurt Busch was always a driver with unquestioned talent. He skipped the Xfinity Series to go straight to the Cup Series after finishing second in the Truck Series standings in his rookie year. The start of his Cup Series career with Roush Racing saw him win 14 times and a championship. His 2004 championship was the first of The Chase era of NASCAR. Perhaps one of the greatest “what-if” questions in NASCAR is how great would Kurt’s career be if he never left Roush Racing.

With all of his controversies during his tenure, Kurt kept his performances up with Penske. Remember, this version of Penske Racing was not the dominant team seen today. Busch replaced Rusty Wallace in the “Blue Deuce”, which was a tall task too.  During his time with Penske, he won 10 times and finished as high as fourth in the standings. Though not on the same level as his Roush days, his status as championship contender was never in question.

His time with Phoenix Racing was not a complete disaster. He led late in the 2012 race at Sonoma in their 51 car. At Talladega, Busch would embrace the similarities between his redemption story and the fictional one from Talladega Nights. Busch’s scheme was a copy of Ricky Bobby’s cougar car from the climax of the film. From Phoenix Racing, Busch went to Furniture Row where turned out respectable numbers. While there were no wins, Busch racked up 11 Top-5s and 19 Top-10s with an average finish of 14.7 in 2013. In a second tier ride, Busch finished tenth in points.

Based on his success with those lesser teams, Kurt Busch was able to carve out rides with SHR, Chip Ganassi Racing, and 23XI. As mentioned earlier, Busch won and made the playoffs each season from 2014 to this year. More than simply being hired to provide results, Busch fell into a mentor role for younger drivers. When Busch was signed by 23XI, many theorized that Busch was brought in to help mentor Bubba Wallace. Having a driver like Busch help mentor an emotional driver like Wallace is great move. Unfortunately, their time as teammates is coming to a pre-mature end.

Kurt Busch’s fulltime career is now over. Hopefully, he can get cleared to run some races for NASCAR. Maybe he goes to the SRX for a race or two over the next couple of years. It is sad to see a driver retire. For Kurt, it is especially sad to see it ended before he was ready to hang it up. Busch’s career is one that needs to viewed as a whole. Starting out as a young phenom who won a championship early in his career. Turning into NASCAR’s most hated driver and shrouding his legacy in controversy after controversy. Then finishing up a redemption arc that see him leave fulltime competition as well-liked driver. It was quite the career Kurt.