Rooting for Kurt Busch

          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.

 

           Kurt Busch gets along with people, in my experience. When I read about how Kurt has changed since he had trouble with the media and had to leave Roger Penske’s organization, how he has now repaired his image, I think back to the guy I worked with for two years.  

 

           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.

 

          Thanks for reading.