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With his 2004 NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Championship, Kurt Busch is becoming one
of the best know names in auto
racing – although not
one of the most loved. Kurt was born on August 4,
1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada to parents Gayle and Tom
Busch. His father used to race and has been a huge
influence on his success. He also has a brother,
Kyle Busch who also races.
His love of racing
came at an early age when he began to race go carts
around with his friends around his town. At the age
of sixteen, he began to hunger for more speed and
turned to Dwarf Cars, where he won the 1994 Rookie
of the Year and went on to win the Nevada State
Dwarf Car Championship in 1995. In 1996 he
continued his move up the ranks and began the Hobby
Stock Car Champion in 1996. NASCAR and racing
sponsors began to take notice of him and in 1998 he
moved up to the big leagues. He did not disappoint
anyone and took the 1998 Rookie of the Year for the
NASCAR Southwest Touring Series. In 1999, he
followed this up by winning the Southwest Touring
Title.
Roush Racing became
his sponsor in 2000 (he had to win a “Gong Show”
audition with them) and he turned his attention to
racing trucks. This new racing class did not slow
him down and he finished second in points in the
Craftsman Truck Series (including four wins). The
Roush team had high hopes for this young racer and
decided to try his skills in the Winston Cup Series.
Once again, Busch does not disappoint and takes the
Rookie of the Year title.
In 2002, legendary
crew chief Jimmy Fennig and the winning tradition
continued. He finished third in points and won a
purse of $3,635,192 for the year. He finished first
four times that year, within the top five twelve
times and twenty-one times within the top ten.
In 2003, he entered the Busch Series for the first
time and although had four wins and nine top-five
finishes and over five million dollars in winnings,
he came in eleventh in points, begin somewhat
humbled by the veteran drivers on the circuit. He
also did not win any friends. His brashness as a
rookie caused friction between himself and some of
the other drivers, which continued into 2004.
Although not loved, he is respected and earned that
respect by winning the NEXTEL Championship by coming
in first in the points standings. In 2004 he
captured 3 first place finishes, ten top ten
finishes and twenty-one top ten finishes. He also
came home with over four million dollars in
winnings.
Some Miscellaneous Facts about Kurt: He is
currently single and divides his non-racing time
between Los Vegas and Charlotte. His favorite
musical group is Metallica, he loves Italian food
and enjoys jet skiing, snow skiing and riding four
wheelers.
Biography by Ian Ripley,
PopStarsPlus.com, Sr. Staff Writer
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