Hard to believe that two years later, Busch would be replaced
by Hendrick Motorsports. f course, that replacement was an
Earnhardt, but Busch said the decision to void his contract had
been mutual. For the next 13 years, he would nd a home at a
budding dynasty oe Gibbs Racing.
Like any driver that races long enough, not all of Buschs career
has come up sunny and rosy. He was involved in a vicious 2007
crash at Talladega Superspeedway that saw NASCAR have to
launch an investigation into what cracked his HANS device.
Ive been in some pretty bad wrecks, but that was the rst time
I ever got upside down or anything, he said to ESPN after that
race. It wasnt fun. It wasnt too terribly bad when I was on the
roof going down the straightaway, but when it headed toward
the grass I planned for the worst.
I ipped my visor open and put my hands in my helmet to grab
on, then I tucked down and got in the fetal position and planned
for the worst. I just wanted to support my head as best I could
for when it started ipping.
Busch was not injured in the crash, but his accident at the 27th
lap showed just how much impact drivers have to sustain in the
drivers seat.
By 2007, Busch was well on his way to establishing himself as
one of the circuits best drivers. He became the rst Nextel Cup
Series driver to win in the Car of Tomorrow when he took home
a win over eff Burton in the Food City 500. f course, Busch,
who is never shy, was no fan of the Car of Tomorrow but true
to form, he won anyway.
Longtime driver and wellrespected competitor, eff Burton,
said after the race, I have a lot of respect for Kyle. Hes always
raced me clean, and I returned that. Half the grandstands will
say it was wrong and half will say its right, but thats how I
chose to do it.
Thirteen years later, that win at the Food City 500 is just a
statistic, one of Buschs 208 career NASCAR wins, one of 56
career Cup Series wins.
After exiting the car as a now twotime Champion, Busch saw
his 4yearold son Brexton waiting. The two shared a warm
embrace, and his son asked to be thrown in the air as was their
typical postvictory tradition.
Its family that now motivates the 34yearold driver who was
mildly subdued after winning his second Championship. He had
raced hard for the title in each of the last three seasons, but he
fell short a year earlier thanks to an error in the pits.
20 THE OFFICIAL NASCAR 2020 PREVIEW & PRESS GUIDE
The 2019 Playoff was a magical run, showing off the very best
of NASCAR and its talented teams. Each driver was running
so well that Las Vegas produced even odds for all four drivers
entering the last race. Nonetheless, many would have picked
Busch as the least likely to win, opting for Hamlin, Harvic or
Truex instead who had all won Playoff races already.
But that November night, Busch was nearly awless, as was
his team. Gibbs secured his fth Cup title in the same year
that his cars started 123 in the Daytona 500. How is that
for wiretowire dominance Do it for .D. proved to be a
special rallying cry for the entire Gibbs team. Then there is
Toyota, cementing itself as the latest topdog with its third
Championship in ve
years.
A look back at the
second Championship
season for Busch
reveals several crucial
moments that proved
decisive in hindsight.
In uly, his brother, Kurt, rallied
to hold him off in a shootout
where the two nished nearly
sidebyside, but Kurt secured the
win. After the Darlington race, Busch
clinched his second consecutive
regular season Championship thanks
to his consistency, capped off with a
thirdplace nish at Darlington.
bviously we set out to do that here
a few weeks back, Busch said. e
knew when Logano passed us and
got the lead from us that it was
going to be hard to get it
back. But fortunately,
we went back into
stage racing a
little bit more
and tried to
get some of
the stage
points,
and that
helped
us.