Kyle Busch looking to complete comeback with first Cup championship

Kyle Busch, wife Samantha, their six-month old son Brexton and members of Joe Gibbs Racing were flying down to Miami Thursday for Sunday’s championship finale when Brexton begin crying in the back of the plane.

Seeing the irony and unable to resist, Gibbs needled Busch, whose bouts of occasional immaturity have pot-marked an otherwise distinguished career. The three-time Super Bowl winning head coach told his driver that’s what he sounded like on the radio mid-race.

But while Gibbs can joke about Busch’s outbursts, the basis of the verbal jab had more to do with events of years past than anything that’s transpired recently. The 30-year-old, whose ability was often overshadowed by tempestuous behavior, has evolved into a better person off the track and a much better driver on it.

“When we go through things in life, we learn from them, and sometimes it’s when we make a mistake, we say, ‘I’m not going to do that again,’” Gibbs said. “I think Kyle for the last couple of years, you can tell he reacts in the car differently. He seems to have more of a patience, willing to think through things. He’s still very aggressive, but I think also the way he deals with things, he’s much more even now.

“He’s definitely now in a different place than he was 10 years ago.”

If there is a year to test Busch’s new perspective and prompt a return to previous form, it is 2015, where he experienced demoralizing lows and euphoric highs.

Just a day before the season-opening Daytona 500, Busch broke his right leg and left foot in a savage crash into a concrete wall during the Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

While the severity of the injuries was significant and threatened his season, Busch never had any doubt he would return -- and far sooner than expected. The day after the crash NASCAR president Mike Helton went by Halifax Health Medical Center to visit Busch, who was already laying the groundwork for his comeback with questions for the executive about maintaining championship eligibility.

“(NASCAR) didn’t have any clue at that point,” Busch said. “So they went back and discussed it and came up with the waiver that I still had to maintain everything that every other driver has to maintain and be able to go out there and perform and get the job done.”

The terms of the waiver required Busch to win at least one regular season race and finish ranked 30th or better in points. Although he originally thought he wouldn’t resume driving the No. 18 car until mid-summer at the earliest, Busch came back far sooner -- May 16 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, missing just 11 races. Two days later Brexton was born.

“Certainly a lot going on in a short period of time from February to May, for sure,” Busch said. But it’s been great; I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. I’ve got a great family. I’m blessed with a great wife and a really cool son.”

Any concern about Busch’s level of competitiveness and whether he could earn a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff were quickly eradicated. In just his fifth race back he won at Sonoma Raceway, and then followed with three victories in the next four races.

Making the Chase brought a new challenge, one that continually vexed the JGR driver throughout his career. For a combination of reasons -- some of his own doing and in part because of rotten luck at inopportune moments -- the playoffs have never featured Busch at his best.

Unable to cope, Busch often expressed his frustration with outbursts that included flashing an obscene gesture to an official in 2010 and deliberately wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. during a Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The latter tantrum earned him a one-race suspension and saw one of his sponsors temporarily withdraw their support.

But Busch is no longer the impassioned driver who self-destructed when things worked against him. And now for the first time, he enters the final race of the season with a chance to win the championship. Along with Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr., Busch will compete in a virtual winner-take-all race Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The favorite is Harvick, the defending Sprint Cup champion, though a case could be made for any of the four contenders. And with all the obstacles he’s faced this season, Busch believes the adversity he overcame provides an advantage.

“We look at it right now that the worst we can be is fourth,” Busch said. “This is a great year for how it started for me, and we’re just going to do what we can to do what we did this summer and hopefully win.”