Mark Winterbottom
150px Mark Winterbottom after winning the V8 Supercar race at Bahrain in 2007
V8 Supercar Record
Nationality	Australian
Car number	5
Current team	Ford Performance Racing
Races	114
Round Wins	9
Podium finishes	30
Race Wins	19
Pole positions	10
2011 Championship position	3rd (2710 pts)

Mark "Frosty" Winterbottom, (born 20 May 1981 in Sydney, Australia) is a racing driver who has competed in the V8 Supercar category since 2003. He currently drives for the Ford Performance Racing team. Mark is the son of the 1969 and 1974 Australian Sprintcar Champion and former chairman of the Sprintcar Control Council of Australia, Jim Winterbottom.

Early career[link]

The Spectrum 09 in which Winterbottom placed 2nd in the 2002 Australian Formula Ford Championship

He started his motor racing career in 1989 at the age of 8, racing 50cc and 80cc motorbikes, and then moved on to go-karts at the age of 10. He would remain in karts until his early twenties, winning an astonishing 10 Australian Kart Championships and 25 State Karts Championships.

He moved up to the Australian Formula Ford Championship, for the 2002 season, and finished as the runner-up to fellow V8 Supercar racer Jamie Whincup, with five wins and two pole positions. He was given the Rookie of the Year title.

V8 Supercar[link]

Stone Brothers Racing[link]

In 2003, Winterbottom moved up to the Konica V8 Supercar series and made an amazing impression with the Stone Brothers Racing team by winning the championship with five round victories and six pole positions. He also made his debut in the V8 Supercar series in the two endurance races at the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 sharing on both occasions with Mark Noske. He impressed at Bathurst, running third until he retired at around three-quarter distance.

Larkham Motor Sport[link]

2004 saw him move full-time into the V8 Supercar series with Larkham Motorsport but did not do him good, with only one top-five in two seasons. That again came at the Bathurst 1000 in 2004.

Ford Performance Racing[link]

The Ford Performance Racing entered Ford FG Falcon of Mark Winterbottom at the 2010 Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

For 2006, Winterbottom moved to Ford Performance Racing as the driver of car #5 replacing Greg Ritter. Winterbottom started the season pretty badly with a 22nd and a 19th at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. But has improved with his first podium at the New Zealand round at Pukekohe and his first round win with team – mate Jason Bright at the Sandown 500 in Bright's usual car.

He finished the 2006 season with a win and second on the podium in the final round at Phillip Island. He finished third in points.

In 2007 he remained with Ford Performance Racing. At the third round of the year at Pukekohe Park Raceway in New Zealand, he achieved his career first pole by edging out Holden's Garth Tander. He finished the first of three races for that round in second place but an involvement in a race 2 accident ruined his weekend. He came fifth in the 2007 season with a win at Bahrain.

He lives with his wife Renee, in Melbourne, Australia.

Career Achievements[link]

^[1]

1987 to 1992[link]

Took up the sport of soccer from the age of six and by eleven Mark was competing with a state level team, (Blacktown United) in matches across New South Wales. He made the decision to give up soccer to pursue his motor racing ambitions at the age of eleven.

1989[link]

Made his motorsport debut racing motorbikes, racing in club level 50cc events, progressing to the 80cc class and competing in fields that included riders Anthony Gobert and Chad Reed. Mark raced whenever he could between his soccer commitments.

1991[link]

Raced a dirt Mini-Speedcar and won the NSW and ACT State Championships. Competed in his first kart race in the Cadet class at Wollongong (NSW) and would continue racing Karts successfully to the age of 21.

1991 to 2001[link]

Won ten Australian Kart Championships and 25 State Kart Championships in an outstanding rise through Australia’s Club karting levels. Mark’s national titles included six Clubman Light titles, three Junior National Lights titles and one Junior Clubman title.

1998[link]

Visited America on a family holiday and heard about a major Karting event taking place close by – so a last minute decision was made to rent a kart locally and compete. Mark then won the Knoxville State Championship Title race.

1999[link]

Competed in Japan at the Suzuka Champions Kart race on invitation.

2001[link]

A busy year which saw Mark crowned as Australian Formula A Kart Champion (Rotax 125cc Class) and he also made his Formula Ford debut in the Victorian Formula Ford Championship.

Mark raced to runner-up honours after winning four races out of six rounds – missing one Victorian Formula Ford Championship round due to his Karting commitments. Winner of the Ford Kart Stars Scholarship Championship, gaining a Ford supported drive in the 2002 (National) Australian Formula Ford Championship.

2002[link]

Finished second in the Australian Formula Ford Championship with two round victories, five race wins and two pole positions.

Presented with 2002 Avon Formula Ford Rookie of the Year Award.

2003[link]

Konica V8 Supercar Series Champion in debut season. Mark raced with Ford team Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) to five round victories and six pole positions in an almost perfect result. Two of Mark’s race victories were gained from rear of field reverse grid starts. (Missed out on making a clean sweep of the series due to an engine failure in the 5th round at Phillip Island) Debuted at the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 with SBR, sharing a BA Falcon with Mark Noske. Winterbottom qualified 16th at Bathurst and retired at three-quarter distance while running third. At Sandown he qualified 14th and finished 11th.

Mike Kable V8 Supercar Rookie of the Year Award recipient.

2004 to 2005[link]

Joined Ford V8 Supercar Team Larkham Motor Sport (LMS) and competed in the 2004 and 2005 V8 Supercar Championships. Highlights of debut season included a 5th place finish at Bathurst and 6th place result at Sandown in 2004. Mark’s best qualifying result was 5th at Darwin in 2005.

2006[link]

Joined Ford Performance Racing (FPR) as driver of the number 5 Ford Credit FPR Falcon for the 2006 and 2007 V8 Supercar Championship seasons. This appointment continued Mark’s career-long involvement with Ford Australia from the karting ranks all the way to a lead role with Ford’s major V8 Supercar team. Claimed his first V8 Supercar Round victory with Jason Bright at the Sandown 500 (R8) and gained 2nd place overall finishes at R2 (NZ) and R10 (Surfers Paradise). By the mid point of the season, Winterbottom had climbed from 22nd to 3rd in the Championship standings and with two further podium finishes with a third at R11 (Symmons Plains) and second at R13 (Phillip Island), this round also including his first V8 Supercar sprint race victory. With nine top ten finishes for the season, Winterbottom had secured third place in the Drivers’ Championship in his third season of main V8 Supercar Series competition.

2007[link]

Raced to 5th in the Championship, winning his first solo V8 Supercar round at the Desert 400 in Bahrain, preserving FPR’s undefeated record at this prestigious international round. Winterbottom gained four Pole positions at Pukekohe Park (NZ), the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and at the Desert 400 (Bahrain) to claim the 2007 V8 Supercar Pole Award, with three further top five overall round results in Perth, Queensland & Tasmania. FPR secures Winterbottom as the driver of the number 5 FPR Falcon for a further three years.

2008[link]

Winterbottom at Eastern Creek

Second place podium finishes at Clipsal and Eastern Creek.

A dominant round victory at the BigPond 400 at Wanneroo's Barbagallo Raceway in Perth, Western Australia. Winterbottom achieved pole position and wins in race 1, race 2 and race 3. Mark also won the City of Ipswich 400 at Queensland Raceway. With further good results at Surfers Paradise and Symmons Plains, he placed 2nd in the championship, which is FPR's best result to date.

2009[link]

Mark Winterbottom won a race at the Australian Grand Prix non-championship round. He also put the #5 Falcon on pole position for Race 3 of the championship at the Hamilton 400 in New Zealand, as well as a pole for race 5 at Winton Raceway but had troublesome races at both rounds which resulted in little or no points for the races. In race 6 at Winton, Mark recovered from race 5 to finish in second position.

Career results[link]

References[link]

1. ^ "The Official Site of Mark Winterbottom". http://www.markwinterbottom.com. Retrieved 2008-04-20. 
2. ^ 2001 Australian Formula Ford Championship Final Pointscore Retrieved on 26 November 2010
3. ^ Natsoft Race Results Archive Retrieved on 26 November 2010

External links[link]

• Personal website
• Ford Performance Racing website

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2010)

Jamie Whincup
Whincup at a press conference.
V8 Supercar Record
Nationality	Australian
Car number	1
Current team	Triple Eight Race Engineering
Series Championships	3 (2008, 2009, 2011)
Races	115
Round Wins	29
Podium finishes	50
Race Wins	52
Pole positions	31
2011 Championship position	Champion (3168 pts)

Jamie Whincup (born 6 February 1983 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian auto racing driver who competes in the V8 Supercar Championship Series, driving for TeamVodafone. He is a three-time V8 Supercars champion and three-time Bathurst 1000 winner.

Early career[link]

Whincup's interest in motor racing commenced at the age of 7 when his father purchased him a go-kart.^[1] From 1991 through to 1997, he won numerous Rookie and Junior titles at a state level.^[2] He was crowned KartOz Magazine's Karter of the Year and won the FMK Senior Intercontinental A Karting Series in 1998 and the Formula A Series in 1999 before progressing to Formula Ford in 2000.

In 2001 Whincup embarked on the Australian Formula Ford Championship with a team run by his father and Uncle Graeme (a former Sports Sedan star) with mechanical support from fellow V8 Supercar driver Greg Ritter, racing with the Mygale Formula Ford team.^[3] After finishing third in his debut year, he moved to Sonic Motorsport for the 2002 season and went on to win the championship convincingly, which secured him his first ever V8 Supercar drive with Garry Rogers Motorsport.^[4]

V8 Supercar[link]

After completing a full year of V8 Supercar racing with Garry Rogers Motorsport, he was replaced by the more experienced Cameron McConville and was left without a full-time drive for 2004. He was later contracted by Castrol Perkins Racing to drive in the two endurance events.

Whincup landed himself a full-time drive in 2005 with the Melbourne based Tasman Motorsport. He had many solid results throughout the season, including a fourth at the one-off Chinese round at the Shanghai International Circuit, a third at the Sandown 500 and most notably, second at the Bathurst 1000 endurance events with team-mate Jason Richards after leading late in the race.

Triple Eight Race Engineering[link]

In 2006, Whincup jumped from Holden to Ford and joined Triple Eight Race Engineering alongside Craig Lowndes. Whincup had a stellar first season, taking victory in the two biggest races of the season, the Clipsal 500 and Supercheap Auto 1000, the latter as co-driver to Craig Lowndes. After some incidents and unreliability, Whincup finished the championship in a slightly disappointing tenth position at years end.

In 2007, Whincup returned with same the team which was re-branded Team Vodafone and celebrated several victories included a second Bathurst 1000 title along-side team-mate Craig Lowndes. Whincup finished second in the driver's title by a mere two points to Garth Tander from the HSV Dealer Team.

In 2007, Whincup began a mentoring role as part of Team Vodafone's Junior Development Program, and as a co-ambassador for Formula Ford Australia alongside Will Davison. His first round win for 2007, at a water-logged Winton, was the first round win for the year by a Ford driver. He celebrated both his 50th V8 Supercar Championship start and his inaugural pole position at Triple Eight Race Engineering's test track, Queensland Raceway. Whincup moved into the championship lead after a successful defence his and Lowndes' Bathurst 1000 crown, coming just weeks after teaming with Lowndes to win the last Sandown 500.

Entering Surfers Paradise for the Indy 300 with the series lead from Garth Tander, a difficult day on Sunday with a spin in the final race saw the lead revert to Tander who won the round. Whincup then had a disappointing weekend at Desert 400 at the Bahrain International Circuit, where poor qualifying pace for Triple Eight was compounded by a run of all three races marred by minor accidents, and he took away zero points. Tander and Craig Lowndes both had fairly good weekends, putting Tander into the series lead over Lowndes heading into the Symmons Plains race in Tasmania. Tander backed up his previous two round wins in Tasmania with a dominant race 1 win on Saturday, but a slow stop in race two dropped him to tenth, before disaster in race three after touching Steven Richards, he broke his steering and was out. Whincup won both races, and headed into the Grand Finale at Phillip Island on the December 1–2 weekend with a slender seven point championship lead.

Whincup failed to keep his slender margin at Phillip Island; after Garth Tander won the first two races Whincup faced a seven point deficit. After the final race Whincup finished second, behind Todd Kelly and two places ahead of Tander but fell just two points short of the title. At the 2007 V8 Supercar Gala Awards Dinner at the completion of the 2007 season, Whincup was awarded the Barry Sheene Medal, deemed to be the "Best and Fairest" award for V8 Supercars.

Whincup won the 2008 Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, and won a further six rounds after that including the Bathurst 1000 for a third year running. He clinched his first Championship after winning the first race in the final round at Oran Park Raceway, and was awarded the Barry Sheene Medal for the second year running at the V8 Gala Awards.

In 2009, Whincup successfully defended his title in a brand new Ford FG Falcon, including wins at Adelaide, Hamilton, Tasmania, Darwin, Townsville, Oueensland, Phillip Island and Barbagallo. Despite bad luck in the endurance races and at the Gold Coast, Whincup was able to put it all together at Sydney Olympic Park And became the first back-to-back championship winner since Marcos Ambrose in 2003–2004.^[5]

In 2010, following the team's switch to Holden VE Commodores, Whincup won the first four races of the season^[6] and Hamilton but a run of bad luck at Queensland raceway and Winton saw him relinquish the championship lead for the first time in two years, and sits second in the points table, just ahead of teammate Craig Lowndes in third. He became close to becoming a 3 time champion, the next triple champion in a row after Mark Skaife from 2000–2002 and the second man to win the driver's championship in both a Ford and a Holden after Norm Beechey, but due to a multi car crash in the 25th race of the season at the Sydney Telstra 500 in wet weather his car was badly damaged and couldn't continue. In the 26th and final race of the season he was out of reach to score enough points to take back the lead from James Courtney and finished 2nd in the season.

In 2011, Whincup regained the championship from James Courtney becoming the first International V8 Supercar Champion. Whincup won races in Abu Dhabi, Adelaide, Perth, Winton, Townsville, Gold Coast, Tasmania and Sandown. The title that went down to the final race in Sydney where Whincup beat fellow team-mate Craig Lowndes by 35 points.^[7] Triple Eight Race Engineering's stellar season earned them 1st in the Teams Championship, their second Teams Championship with Holden.^[8]

Career results[link]

Bathurst 1000 Results[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Official Online Community of Jamie Whincup
• Team Vodafone
• The MySpace of Jamie Whincup

Kurt Thomas Busch
Born	(1978-08-04) August 4, 1978 (age 33) Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Achievements	2003 IROC Champion 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champion
Awards	2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
412 race(s) run over 13 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 51 (Phoenix Racing)
2011 position	11th
Best finish	1st - 2004
First race	2000 MBNA.com 400 (Dover)
Last race	2012 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
First win	2002 Food City 500 (Bristol)
Last win	2011 AAA 400 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles 24 170 15
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
18 race(s) run over 4 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 1 (Phoenix Racing) No. 54 (Kyle Busch Motorsports)
2011 position	97th
Best finish	39th (2006)
First race	2008 Emerson Radio 250 (Richmond)
Last race	2012 Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 (Iowa)
First win	2006 O'Reilly 300 (Texas)
Last win	2012 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Richmond)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 15 3
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
25 race(s) run over 2 year(s)
Best finish	2nd (2000)
First race	2000 Daytona 250 (Daytona)
Last race	2001 GNC Live Well 200 (Milwaukee)
First win	2000 Sears DieHard 200 (Milwaukee)
Last win	2000 Motorola 200 (California)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 17 4
Statistics current as of May 24, 2012.

Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American NASCAR and NHRA driver. He drives the No. 51 TAG Heuer/Phoenix Construction Chevrolet Impala for Phoenix Racing in the Sprint Cup Series and drives the No. 1 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet Impala for Phoenix and the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Nationwide Series.

Busch has also driven for Penske Racing and Roush Fenway Racing in his Sprint Cup career, which began in 2001.

Busch, winner of 24 Cup races and the 2004 championship, also races on an "opportunity permitting" basis in the Pro Stock division of NHRA. ^[1]

He is a second-generation race car driver, his father Tom won several NASCAR sanctioned events. He is the older brother of Kyle Busch, who is also a NASCAR driver.^[2]

Busch won the Cup Series Championship in 2004, the first ever season using the "Chase for the Cup" points format, finishing just eight points ahead of Jimmie Johnson. With a 2006 win in the Nationwide Series, Busch became one of only 23 drivers with a win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions: the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series.

Early and personal life[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2009)

Busch with his former wife, Eva

At the age of six, Busch was accompanying his father to the track and driving go-carts himself. As an underage teenager, he competed in Dwarf competition winning in just his second race, at the Las Vegas Speedway Park. This father and son team competed western tracks from Southern California to Utah. In 1994, his first full year as a driver, Busch won 10 consecutive races at 10 different tracks. His father eventually sold their dwarf equipment and purchased a powerful car for the Legends Series, which Busch began driving in 1996 at age 18.^[2] After graduating at Durango High School, Busch enrolled at the University of Arizona, hoping to earn a degree in Pharmacy.^[2]

Busch became engaged to girlfriend, Eva Bryan, while attending the 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix. On July 27, 2006, during an off weekend following the Sprint Cup Pocono race, they were married in Virginia. The footage was taped and later aired on national television. His younger brother Kyle Busch also competes full-time in both the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and runs part time in the Camping World Truck Series. Busch is also an avid fan of the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears. The 2011 NASCAR season took a toll on the marriage and finally, Kurt and Eva filed for divorce in early June and were legally separated later that month. Kurt appeared to show off his new girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, during the June 26, 2011 Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend at Sonoma, California.^[3]

Racing career[link]

Beginnings[link]

Busch's first racing experience was in a Dwarf car at age 14 at Pahrump Valley Speedway.^[4] He was put in the Dwarf car by his father.^[5]

Busch earned his big break after Chris Trickle was wounded in a mysterious shooting (Trickle would die of the injuries over a year later and to this day the murderer has never been found). The Star Nursery team looked for a new driver to replace Trickle for the No. 70 team. Busch gained national exposure while competing against Ron Hornaday, Jr., Matt Crafton, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and others for the first time in the 1997 Winter Heat Series at Tucson Raceway Park.

Busch and the Star Nursery team went on to win the 1998 Auto Zone Elite Division Southwest Series Rookie of the Year.^[6] He followed up by winning the series championship in 1999.^[7]

That led to a tryout in a Roush Racing "Gong Show", which he won and earned a Craftsman Truck Series ride. He raced the No. 99 Exide Batteries Ford F-150.^[4] He won four races and finished runner-up to teammate Greg Biffle in the championship standings, as well as winning Rookie of the Year honors.

Sprint Cup Series[link]

Roush Racing[link]

2000–2005[link]

Roush announced during the 2000 season that Busch was being promoted to the Winston Cup series to replace Chad Little in Roush's No. 97 John Deere Ford for the 2001 season. However, Little was released from the ride toward the end of the season and Busch ran several races, beginning at Dover in September, with Jeff Hammond as his crew chief. Busch finished 48th in the points with no wins, top fives, or top tens.

Busch ran for rookie of the year honors in 2001, starting 35 of 36 races with no wins, although he scored three top fives and six top tens that year. However, he ran the first several races in an unsponsored car due to John Deere pulling its sponsorship before Roush signed Newell Rubbermaid as the team's sponsor, with its Sharpie brand featured on the hood of the car. He and Dale Earnhardt made contact in the Daytona 500, and Earnhardt stuck his hand out the window at Busch to give him the finger. To this day Busch recalls this as the only time he encountered Earnhardt on the track (in fact, it was the last time Earnhardt and Busch competed in the same race due to Earnhardt's fatal crash at the end of the race). Busch finished with a 27th place finish in the championship standings, was the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award, earned more than $2 million in winnings. Busch's best finish was third at the spring Talladega race, and he added a fifth place at Indianapolis. He also won the pole for the Southern 500 at Darlington.

2002 was Busch's breakout year in the Winston Cup Series. He won his first race at the Food City 500 in Bristol in the spring. Busch added a second win at Martinsville in October, then won at Atlanta the next week and Homestead in the season finale. Busch scored four wins, 12 top fives and 20 top tens, with one pole, and finishing third in the final standings in 2002. He finished the season particularly strong, winning three out of the final five races and finishing third and sixth and leading many laps in the other two. Busch finished 3rd in points that year. He also collected $5,105,394.

Busch had an up and down year in 2003, finishing 11th in the season standings, earning four wins (including a season sweep at Bristol, making him the first driver to do that since Rusty Wallace accomplished the feat in 2000), nine top fives and 14 top tens but finishing only 11th in the standings following a late season slump, although he collected US$5 million+ dollars again that year. Busch was the runner-up finisher in the closest finish in NASCAR history on March 16, 2003. The race in Darlington, South Carolina was decided with a two-lap side-by-side battle with Ricky Craven, who ended up crossing the finish line first, 0.002 seconds ahead of Busch.

In 2004, Busch won three races, two poles and the inaugural NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship. He won his fourth consecutive race at Bristol after winning the Food City 500 in March (winning that race for the third consecutive year), and became the second driver to sweep both races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in a single season. He scored ten top five and 21 top ten finishes that season. Irwin Industrial Tools and Crown Royal replaced Rubbermaid as his sponsor. Midway through the 2005 season, Busch announced that he would be leaving Roush Racing at the end of the season and would replace Rusty Wallace in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for Penske Racing South. Busch won three races during the 2005 season, along with nine top five and 18 top ten finishes in 34 races. He finished 10th in the final standings.

Busch (97) and Joe Nemechek at Talladega Superspeedway in 2005.

Penske Racing[link]

2005–2011[link]

Busch left Roush Racing and joined Penske Racing South in 2006. Busch had asked team owner Jack Roush to let him out of his contract at the end of the 2005, but Roush initially refused. However, after Chip Ganassi released Jamie McMurray from his 2006 contract, Roush decided to release Busch. McMurray, who was originally slated to join Roush in 2007 to drive the No. 6, instead replaced Busch in the No. 97, which was then renumbered to No. 26. In the 2006 season, driving for Penske, Busch scored one win at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500, his fifth win at the track. Busch celebrated the victory by getting out of his car and making a snow angel on the track, due to snow that had fallen at the track that weekend. He also won six poles and had seven top fives and twelve top ten finishes but finished 16th in the final standings. He also made his Busch Series debut for Penske in the No. 39 Penske Truck Rental Dodge at Texas Motor Speedway, winning in his first race. He ran six more races that season and picked up a second win at Watkins Glen International. In the 2007 season, Busch had two wins, one pole, scored five top-fives, and ten-top tens through 26 races and qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Busch's on-track performance increased noticeably after the addition of Pat Tryson as his crew chief mid-way through the season.^[8] He also ran four more Busch races, earning 2 top five and 3 top ten finishes.

Kurt Busch's 2008 Sprint Cup Series racecar

In 2008, in order to make sure rookie teammate Sam Hornish Jr. would be guaranteed a starting spot in the season's first five races, the owner's points from Busch's No. 2 car were transferred over to the No. 77 car driven by Hornish. Busch would still be guaranteed a starting spot, due to NASCAR's Champion's Provisional Rule, which states that the most recent series champion not in the top 35 in the previous season's final owner points automatically qualifies for a race. (with his 2004 championship, Busch was by several years the most recent). On June 29, Busch broke a 29-race winless streak at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was called due to rain on lap 284. It was his fourth win since joining Penske Racing and 18th overall.

He began his 2009 season at the 2009 Daytona 500, he was involved in a wreck on lap 124 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. swerved into Brian Vickers. Vickers shot up the track and hit the wall, ricocheting into Denny Hamlin, who came down into Busch. He then spun into the grass (along with 8 other drivers). Busch made numerous pit stops to repair the car, and was able to finish tenth. Busch then qualified fourth for the season's second race at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. He ran in the top five most of the race and finished fifth. This moved him up seven spots in the standings to third. Busch led most of the race the 2009 Kobalt Tools 500, leading 235 of 325 laps and getting his nineteenth Sprint Cup Series victory. He led more laps in the race than he did in the entire 2008 season. He remained in the top five in points for the rest of the season. He qualified for the chase, and ended up 4th in the standings, the first car that was not under the Hendrick Motorsports banner.Busch picked up another win at the 2009 Dickies 500 after his brother Kyle ran out of fuel with two laps to go.

For the 2010 season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Penske Racing will bring Brad Keselowski on board to drive the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger. Busch and Sam Hornish will be his teammates.^[9] Keselowski will also run a full-time Nationwide Series, driving the No. 22 Discount Tires Dodge Challenger. 2009 Rookie Justin Allgaier will accompany him in the Nationwide Series.^[10] Steve Addington, who was Kyle Busch's crew chief for the past two seasons and led the younger Busch to 14 victories, became the crew chief for Kurt at the start of the 2010 season, as Pat Tryson left to join Michael Waltrip Racing as Martin Truex Jr's crew chief. On May 22, 2010, Kurt Busch won the 26th Annual NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. He then followed it up by winning the Coca-Cola 600 the following weekend, becoming only the seventh driver to win both in the same year. Kurt eventually made the Chase being seeded 5th in points. Busch also, amazingly, finished seventh at Daytona after wrecking three times in the last twelve laps. Busch would finish out the season 11th among the Chase contenders.

2011-2012[link]

In 2011, Busch earned his first Budweiser Shootout win after Denny Hamlin went below the yellow line at the end of the race at Daytona. He would go on to win the 2011 Gatorade Duel 1, and because Pole Winner Dale Earnhardt Jr's crash in practice, which forced him into a backup car, Kurt Busch started in first for the 2011 Daytona 500, and started the 2011 season 3 for 3. Busch won the pole for and led most of the race at Kansas, for 152 laps. However, a fuel pickup issue late hurt his chances of winning. Teammate Brad Keselowski took the victory. However, a few weeks later on June 26, Kurt finally got an elusive road course victory at Infineon Raceway. Not only did he win, but he also the most laps with 76. Because of Brad Keselowski's injury during a practice crash at Road Atlanta, Busch filled in for Keselowski in his NASCAR Nationwide Series car for the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International, and Busch managed to get the pole and the win. As of August 13, 2011, Kurt Busch has won 1/4 of all of his Nationwide races. On October 2 Kurt Busch won on 2 late restarts beating Jimmie Johnson in turn 1 leading the final 43 laps to grab his first ever victory at the Monster Mile at Dover. After a frustrating final 5 races, things came to a head when Busch launched a verbal tirade against ESPN pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch at Homestead. Crew chief Steve Addington moved to Stewart-Haas Racing after the 2011 season.

Busch's employment with Penske Racing terminated on December 5, 2011. Although most observers of the sport believe he was fired,^[11] Busch claimed in a public statement that the parting was "mutual": "I am grateful to Penske Racing for six very productive years. Together we won a lot of races — 16 in all. ... Coming to a mutual agreement to go our separate ways is a positive step for me."^[12] In contrast, the Charlotte Observer reported several sources confirming team owner Roger Penske decided that Busch's altercation at Homestead-Miami Speedway was the last straw in his stormy tenure with the team but chose to defer the announcement until after Champion's Week.^[13]

Following his release from Penske Racing, Busch reached an agreement to drive for Phoenix Racing, driving the No. 51 Chevrolet, for the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season,^[14] with limited sponsorship from TAG Heuer.^[15] He will also run a limited Nationwide Series schedule for the team,^[16] while running additional Nationwide Series races for Kyle Busch Motorsports, sharing the No. 54 Monster Energy car with his younger brother.^[17]

At the 2012 Aaron's 499 at Talladega, Busch paid homage to the 2006 racing comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby by running his #51 car with the paint scheme of Ricky Bobby's #62 "ME" Cougar car from the movie, causing NASCAR on Fox commentators Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip to jokingly refer to Busch as "Ricky Bobby" throughout the race, and Busch also dropped movie lines into radio chatter with his spotter and crew chief. Busch's girlfriend Patricia Driscoll spent months getting permission from Sony and Will Farrell as well as other trademark and license holders. Busch's real-life fall from grace during the 2011-12 Sprint Cup off-season has been compared to Ricky Bobby's.^[18] Towards the end of the race, when Busch spun out on the trioval off the bumper of Brad Keselowski, Busch made a unique move by driving back to the pits through the pit road exit and then swinging around to take his pit stop.

NHRA[link]

Busch began training in January 2011 under veteran NHRA Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson and obtained his NHRA Pro Stock competition license. He made his drag-racing competition debut on March 10 at the 42nd annual Tire Kingdom Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL. On March 12, Busch qualified in the Pro Stock field, and made his first professional drag-racing Elimination-round start on March 13, losing to Erica Enders by 0.004 second in a car carrying Shell sponsorship and painted to look like his NASCAR Sprint Cup racer. Busch is only the third driver to cross over between NASCAR and NHRA, the other two being Richard Petty and John Andretti.^[1]

Controversies[link]

2005 Phoenix incident[link]

Busch's 2005 season was cut short by two races after a confrontation during the Phoenix, Arizona race weekend with Maricopa County Sheriff deputies on November 11, 2005, when he was pulled over for suspicion of drunken driving and cited for reckless driving.^[19] At first, the Sheriff's department claimed that their equipment for sobriety testing had failed and they could not release results of his drunk driving tests. This claim later proved to be false, but by this time, Roush Racing responded two days later by suspending Busch for the remainder of the season and replacing him with Kenny Wallace for the final two races. Team president Geoff Smith famously declared they were "officially retiring as Kurt Busch's apologists."^[20] Busch was 8th in the Cup Series Chase for the Championship at the time of the incident. He was sentenced to serve 50 hours of community service which was to be completed within one year. In November 2006, one year after the incident, Busch was declared an honorary deputy in Maricopa County.

2011 Homestead incident[link]

In the final race of the 2011 season, Busch finished 47 laps behind the leaders, after spending time in the garage for mechanical issues. While turning into the garage, Busch made an obscene hand gesture. While his car was undergoing repairs, Busch verbally abused Dr. Jerry Punch while waiting to be interviewed by Punch for ESPN, in an incident captured by a fan and posted on YouTube.^[21] NASCAR fined Busch $50,000 for his actions during the race, and Penske Racing issued an apology for Busch's "inappropriate actions".^[22]

In December 2011, he announced that he was seeing a sports psychologist, acknowledging "I need to be a better person on the radio, to the team, as a leader. It's personal issues, of course, and working with a sports psychologist, I've gotten obviously a small grasp, but there's obviously bigger things that I need to accomplish and things can't happen overnight."^[23]

Penske Racing and Busch later mutually agreed to part ways,^[24] although many in the sport believe he was fired.^[25]

Feuds with rival drivers[link]

In the February 2006 edition of GQ Magazine, he was selected number three on their list of the top ten most hated athletes, behind Barry Bonds and Terrell Owens.^[26]

Aside from Jimmy Spencer, Busch has had notable run-ins with Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Tony Stewart and even with younger brother Kyle Busch, who he now races for in the Nationwide Series. On June 4, 2007 in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway, after a crash with Stewart he drove beside Stewart's car on pit road, and gestured through his window netting. Busch was penalized 100 championship points, fined $100,000, and placed on probation until the end of the year.

But Busch would tangle with Stewart again only months later. During practice for the 2008 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, Stewart clipped the back end of Busch's car sending Busch into the wall. After sustaining major damage Busch drove towards Stewart's car and rammed Stewart's car three times before attempting to return to the garage after the practice was called. Stewart had stopped his car in an effort to block Busch from going back into the garage area but Busch went around Stewart.

On June 21, 2009 in the Toyota Save-Mart 350 Busch was involved in a wreck with Johnson. Three weeks later at Chicagoland Speedway, both Johnson and Busch were involved in another incident where they collided into each other. Busch then retaliated by colliding with Johnson's car in the door area shortly after the contact. Over a year later, Busch was involved in an accident at Pocono Raceway after bumpdrafting with Johnson. His crash was overshadowed by Elliott Sadler's horrific crash.

On May 15, 2012, Busch was fined $50,000 and put on probation until July 25, 2012 after being involved in an altercation with Ryan Newman and reckless driving on pit road during the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway three days earlier.^[27]

Racing record[link]

Sprint Cup Series[link]

Summary[link]

(Data current as of October 3, 2011)^[28]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Kurt Busch at Racing Reference
• 10 Questions with Kurt Busch – July 2005 interview of the defending Nextel Cup champ