Kurt Busch will try something this
weekend that sounds impossible.
He is scheduled to drive in the
Indianapolis 500 Sunday morning and afternoon, then drive in the Coca Cola 600
in the late afternoon and evening. That’s one race in Indianapolis, Indiana and
another in Concord, North Carolina, all in one day.
If he completes both races, that’s
1,100 miles of competition.
Three drivers have attempted the
double in previous years and one has actually completed the entire distance.
Any rain delay or spate of caution flags at Indy could ruin the entire effort.
I wish Busch well and I want to tell
you why.
Kurt Busch raced in NASCAR’s Southwest
Tour in 1998 and 1999, winning the Rookie of the Year in his first full season
and the championship a year later. Before he was done with the awards banquet
following his championship season with the Tour, Busch had signed a contract to
race in NASCAR’s Truck Series. His talent was pretty obvious.
I saw each of Kurt’s SWT races because
I was the PR guy for the series back then. I came to know him a little bit and
I liked him. Never had the first moment of trouble with Kurt Busch when we were
both with the Tour and I still haven’t.
Busch tried his hand a drag racing a
few years ago, twice racing in the NHRA’s Pro Stock category at the
Gatornationals. I worked both those events and every time I saw him, Kurt
stopped, said hello and we shook hands. Same thing has happened when I’ve
worked at a few NASCAR Cup races since he joined that Series.
Wow, can Kurt Busch drive a racecar. In the 15 years
since we were both with the Southwest Tour, he has only gotten better. Remember when he won his Cup title on
the final day of the season? A wheel broke off of his car during the race and
he somehow managed to get that three-wheeled thing onto pit road without
damaging the car, then got back out there and won the championship. Drivers don’t
just do that.
Kurt Busch is a combination of
other-worldly talent and tremendous competitive spirit. That drive to win pushes
him to the edge of his car’s potential, which is what happens with the great
ones. And when a driver hangs it out that way on every lap, it isn’t easy to turn off all
the internal mechanisms and become cool, calm and collected immediately after
climbing out of the race car, even if things went well. It’s really hard to be
cool and calm after a wreck or some kind of trouble on the track.
Kurt Busch is a heckuva race car
driver. I hope he does well this weekend. And I’ll be happy as hell to shake
his hand the next time I see him.
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