Though this week’s Daytona 500 drivers may be rich and successful now, none of them reached NASCAR’s Super Bowl without some bumps along the way. We asked several drivers to share the story of a difficult moment with us. Up next: Kurt Busch.
Kurt Busch’s Road To The 2011 Daytona 500
Coming up through the racing ranks, it was obvious Kurt Busch had a ton of talent – but he didn’t necessarily make many friends along the way. Busch’s aggressive nature in the lower levels ruffled the feathers of many a veteran, which he explained in his own words:
It’s always a challenge when you’re a new guy or you come into a series – you want to stick your neck out and race competitively and race hard. But that always rubs veterans the wrong way. And that happened to me in each of the series I was in.
This started in hobby stock racing. Back in 1996, I had a Camaro and the guy I was racing against had a ‘70 Torino. And this was a boat, but this Torino was fast. But my bumper never lined up with his – it would hit his valance underneath his chrome rear bumper.
He came up to me, and it was a life-threatening situation. He was like, ‘You hit my valance one more time and I’m going to kill you!’ And I’m like, ‘Seriously? You just threatened me with my life and I’m 16 years old.’
So of course, the next thing that happens out on the track is he checks up and I accidentally run into him – and now there’s a brawl in the pits.
That seemed to follow me a lot where I went – not necessarily fitting in early in my career.
In the Southwest Tour, there was a veteran driver named Jim Petit III – he was a champion driver after I left. He and I were almost at each other’s throat each week. He’d say, ‘You’re the new kid – you should learn how to fit in better.’ I kept going, ‘I’m here to make a name and keep racing hard.’
I don’t know if I ever would have made it if I didn’t have that approach.
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