Kurt Busch : biography
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car driver. He currently drives the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet SS for Furniture Row Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.
Busch has also driven for Phoenix Racing, Penske Racing, and Roush Fenway Racing in his Sprint Cup career, which began in 2001.
Busch, winner of 24 Cup races and the 2004 championship, also races on an "opportunity permitting" basis in the Pro Stock division of NHRA.
He is a second-generation racing driver; his father, Tom, won several NASCAR sanctioned events. He is the older brother of Kyle Busch, who is also a NASCAR driver.http://www.jockbio.com/Bios/Busch/Busch_bio.html
Busch won the Cup Series Championship in 2004, the first ever season using the "Chase for the Cup" points format, finishing just eight points ahead of Jimmie Johnson. With a 2006 win in the Nationwide Series, Busch became one of only 23 drivers with a win in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions: the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series.
Racing record
Sprint Cup Series
Summary
Year | Starts* | Wins | Non-Points Wins | Top Fives | Top Tens | Poles | Rank | Winnings | Team(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48th | $311,915 | Roush Racing |
2001 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 27th | $2,170,629 | Roush Racing |
2002 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 20 | 1 | 3rd | $3,707,346 | Roush Racing |
2003 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 11th | $5,020,485 | Roush Racing |
2004 | 36 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 21 | 1 | 1st | $4,152,732 | Roush Racing |
2005 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 10th | $6,512,818 | Roush Racing |
2006 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 16th | $5,688,605 | Penske Racing |
2007 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 7th | $5,178,513 | Penske Racing |
2008 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 18th | $4,987,409 | Penske Racing |
2009 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 21 | 0 | 4th | $4,987,409 | Penske Racing |
2010 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 17 | 2 | 11th | $6,732,738 | Penske Racing |
2011 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 3 | 11th | $4,796,176 | Penske Racing |
2012 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 25th | $2,504,490 | Phoenix Racing |
2013 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 9th | $2,532,323 | Furniture Row Racing |
Total | 420 | 24 | 3 | 89 | 171 | 15 | 1 Championship | $71,019,005 |
(Data current as of September 27, 2012)
Controversies
2002: altercations with Jimmy Spencer
Bristol incident
Busch is notable for initially having been a mortal rival of fellow driver Jimmy Spencer. In 2002 at Bristol, Spencer had the fastest car with 150 laps left in the race. With 56 laps to go, the rookie came up to Spencer’s #41 Target Chip Ganassi Dodge. After a small bump Spencer lost his amazing speed and Busch got by. Busch led the rest of the race and took his first Sprint Cup win. As Spencer drove underneath the checkers he radioed "We will never forget what happened today guys" in regards to the contact. Busch and Spencer had hatred for another after this incident although they never really respected each other after an incident at Phoenix in 2001.(55)