Motorsports

Younger Busch proving more than hype

By wire services
Published September 8, 2005

In 2001, when Kyle Busch was 16 and a high school junior, older brother Kurt sounded a warning to NASCAR competitors.

"You think I'm a pretty good race car driver? Wait until you see my brother. He's the best driver in the family," said Kurt, then a rookie with Roush Racing in NASCAR's top stock car series.

Kyle, now 20, has done little in the intervening years to make people dispute his sibling's words. And Kurt, seven years older, has proven to be a pretty good driver himself, winning 13 races and the 2004 Nextel Cup championship.

His kid brother drove six truck races for Jack Roush in 2001, earning two top 10s, before NASCAR decided to enforce an 18-year-old minimum.

The younger Busch didn't pout. In 2002, he graduated a year early from his Las Vegas high school with honors and spent that season in the American Speed Association, getting some seasoning and earning 10 top-10 finishes in 20 starts.

He was signed by Hendrick Motorsports in December of that year. He won a couple of ARCA stock car races and, after he turned 18 on May 2, 2003, the team entered him in seven Busch Series events. In 2004, he went into the development series full time and won five races, finishing second in points.

When two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte decided to cut back to a part-time schedule in 2005, that left the No. 5 Chevrolet open for the youngster. Team owner Rick Hendrick put Busch together with rookie crew chief Alan Gustafson and the two hit it off right away, with Busch finishing second in Las Vegas in only his third start this season.

The rest of the year has been up and down, with only seven more top-10 finishes, culminating with Sunday night's victory at California Speedway that made Busch the youngest winner in NASCAR's top series by four days.

The young driver was excited but showed little surprise.

"Heck, we could have been here at least five times before this," Busch said. "The confidence has always been up ... with the equipment that we had, with my team owner Rick Hendrick, with the setups we've been able to run with Alan."

However, going into California, Busch's team had been struggling, and finishes of 39th, 10th, 33rd, 43rd and 33rd in the five previous events had long ago eliminated the youngster from any shot at the season-ending Chase for the Championship.

He said he spent considerable time last week talking with his crew about the situation and doing a lot of soul searching. It apparently worked.

"It's one of those deals where the final piece of the puzzle was so hard to find," Busch said. "Finally, we were just able to get there and do it. It's unbelievable as far as how the team has just kept composure on everything."

WINNER CHANGED: The outcome of the Pro Stock Motorcycle final at the U.S. Nationals was overturned, giving the victory to Steve Johnson instead of apparent winner Matt Smith.

The light at the end of the quarter-mile run at Indianapolis Raceway Park indicated Smith captured Monday's race in Clermont, Ind. Video replays later showed Johnson's motorcycle crossed the finish line just ahead of Smith's, the National Hot Rod Association said.

"It's obvious that the finish line beam did not detect the front tire of Johnson's motorcycle and instead was triggered by another component of the motorcycle," said Graham Light, the NHRA's senior vice president of racing operations.

CREW CHIEFS FINED: NASCAR fined crew chief Glenn Darrow $2,500 for using an unapproved rear end gear ratio on Tony Raines' No. 37 Nextel Cup Dodge last week at California Speedway. The sanctioning organization also fined Teddy Brown, crew chief for Busch Series driver Aaron Fike, $500 for using an unapproved A-frame at the Fontana, Calif., track.

[Last modified September 8, 2005, 01:50:14]