By Mark Young
Kurt Busch has been in the news quite a bit lately……and this
time it is for all of the right reasons.
After a 2011 season that saw him not only lose his composure on national
TV, he also lost his job at Penske Racing.
His temper had gotten the best of him one too many times and he found
himself on the bottom looking up to where he once was. 2013 was a year of rebirth. Furniture Row Racing, the little team that
could, along with Kurt made the Chase and they both showed that they belonged
at the top of the heap. In August of
last year along came Gene Haas, the money man behind Stewart-Haas Racing,
signed Kurt to be the fourth driver in the SHR stable. That was the beginning of what could become a
pretty awesome turnaround season for the former Cup Series Champion.
Yesterday Kurt announced that he would become only the fourth
driver to ever attempt “The Double”.
Race in the Indianapolis 500 AND The Coca Cola 600. Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, and John Andretti
have done it before and now Kurt will be able to put his name on that list.
In 2011 I cringed at the sound of his name, waiting for the
next tirade to come out of his mouth over this thing or that. I now realize that there was a lot going on
in his life outside of racing and that surely effected things. Being “demoted” so to speak from Miller Lite
to make room for Brad Keselowski surely didn’t help either. He has grown up, we all do eventually, and we
have seen a rejuvenation of sorts out of him.
A good woman standing behind you will do that to you. His involvement with disabled and PTSD
veterans has shown him that life isn’t always as bad as it seems and that there
are others in worse shape.
This is a huge thing not only for Kurt but for NASCAR as
well as the INDY Car Series. It may not
equate to more tickets sold but I guarantee you that the media exposure will
drive TV ratings to levels that the networks haven’t seen in years. BOTH series should rally around this and do
whatever they can to make this a successful venture. Kurt’s success will mean success for them as
well.
Good luck Kurt, the racing world is behind you, your fans are
behind you, and even the naysayers are behind you. This is a steep hill to climb and this fan
hopes you make it to the top.
I have to admit, I LOATHED Kurt Busch for years. I mean flat-out could not stand that guy. But, his "comeback" has made a fan out of me. I genuinely like the guy now. I think the entire divorce/firing/meltdown deal, resulted in a better man, and a better race car driver. I don't see that he lost any of his "fire" nor his passion for racing. He just mellowed out. And I am STOKED about this double duty. I haven't been this excited about a race day in a long time.
ReplyDeleteHis new girl and her involvement with the wounded warriors project (I know it is called something else) has grounded him. I am full-on rooting for him to succeed.
ReplyDeleteI have always, as you know, had a lot of respect for Kurt, and yes, Kyle, for their ability, not necessarily for their Jimmy Johnson political correctness abilities (which by the way is painful to watch in every interview). Both have a lot of God given talent, but seem to have even more demon's that keep poking out their ugly heads at every chance. I hope he does well in both races and your right that this will be great for both series. I will, as always be watching both races, but with a little more interest in Indy this year than usual. I would love to see Tony and Danica, yes, Danica, do the same. Also would love to be a fly on the wall for that plane ride to Charollote. LOL. Good luck to Kurt. Can you imagine the story that follows if he does well in both races or wins one of them?.
ReplyDeleteI like Kurt and his ability to drive. I think doing the double is a good move for him and the sport.. In my opinion the jury is still out on whether or not his move to SHR was a good idea. I think the smaller team kept his ego in check. Even though he was successful, he had to work harder to keep up with the larger teams. At SHR he might forget that. It seems to happen when he gets to larger more successful teams. He is one of the few drivers in a Hendrick Chevy that I want to see succeed.
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