Coordinates: 54°31′37″N 1°33′09″W / 54.5270°N 1.5526°W / 54.5270; -1.5526

Darlington
Darlington town centre including the town clock
240px
Darlington  Darlington shown within County Durham
Population	97,712 [1]
OS grid reference	NZ289147
- London	219 mi (352 km)
Unitary authority	Darlington
Shire county	County Durham
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DARLINGTON
Postcode district	DL1, DL2, DL3
Dialling code	01325
Police	Durham
Fire	County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Darlington
Website	http://www.darlington.gov.uk
List of places: UK • England • County Durham

Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, in the North East of England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river.^[2] It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001.^[3] The town owes much of its development to the influence of local Quaker families during the Victorian era, and it is famous as the location of the world's first passenger railway. It is popularly known by locals as "Darlo". The railway station is an important stop on the East Coast Main Line.

History[link]

St Cuthbert's Church

Early history[link]

The name Darlington derives from the Anglo-Saxon Dearthington, which seemingly meant 'the settlement of Deornoth's people' but by Norman times the name had changed to Derlinton.^[4] During the 17th and 18th centuries the town was generally known by the name of Darnton.^[4] Darlington started life as an Anglo-Saxon settlement.^[4] It has an historic market area in the town centre. Built in 1183, the Grade I listed St Cuthbert's Church is one of the most important early English churches in the north of England.^[5]

Visiting during the 18th century, Daniel Defoe noted that the town was eminent for "good bleaching of linen, so that I have known cloth brought from Scotland to be bleached here". He also disparaged the town, writing that it had "nothing remarkable but dirt" (the roads were probably unpaved at the time).^[6]

The Durham Ox came from Darlington.^[4]

19th century industry[link]

At the beginning of the 19th century, Darlington was still only a small market town.^[7] During the 19th century, powerful Quaker families such as the Pease family and the Backhouse family were prominent employers and philanthropists. Darlington's most famous landmark, the clock tower, was a gift to the town by the industrialist Joseph Pease in 1864.^[8] Its face was produced by T. Cooke & Sons of York, and the tower bells were cast by John Warner & Sons of nearby Norton on Tees.^[5] The 91 acre South Park was re-developed into its current form in 1853, with financial backing from the Backhouse family.^[9] Alfred Waterhouse, who designed London's Natural History Museum and Manchester Town Hall designed the Grade II listed Victorian Market Hall in 1860, and Backhouse's Bank (now Barclays) in 1864, the latter taking three years to complete.^[5] George Gordon Hoskins is responsible for much of the town's architecture from this period, such as The King's Hotel. The Darlington Free Library was built with funding from Edward Pease, and opened in 1884.^[10]

Railways[link]

Darlington is known for its associations with the birth of railways. This is celebrated in the town at Darlington Railway Centre and Museum. The world's first passenger rail journey was between Shildon and Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825.

The town later became an important centre for railway manufacturing. An early railway works was the Hopetown Carriage Works (est.1853) which supplied carriges and locomotives to the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the engineering firm of William and Alfred Kitching also manufactured locomotives in the 19th century. The town developed to have three significant works. The largest of these was the main line Darlington Works, whose main works was known as the North Road Shops; opened in 1863 and closed in 1966. Another was Robert Stephenson & Co. (colloquially: "Stivvies"), who moved to Darlington from Newcastle upon Tyne in 1902, became Robert Stephensons & Hawthorns in 1937, were absorbed by English Electric around 1960, and closed by 1964. The third was Faverdale Wagon Works, established in 1923 and closed in 1962, which in the 1950s was a UK pioneer in the application of mass-production techniques to the manufacture of railway goods wagons.

To commemorate the town's contribution to the railways, David Mach's 1997 work "Train" is located alongside the A66, close to the original Stockton-Darlington railway. It is a life-size brick sculpture of a steaming locomotive emerging from a tunnel, made from 185,000 "Accrington Nori" bricks. The work had a budget of £760,000.

For 19 years, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust^[11] built a 50th member of the long withdrawn LNER Peppercorn Class A1 engine, called 'Tornado' and numbered 60163, from scratch in the 1853 former Stockton and Darlington Railway Carriage Works at Hopetown. Many of the original fleet had been built at Darlington locomotive works in the late 1940's.

Engineering[link]

Darlington has long been a centre for engineering, particularly bridge building.^[4] Bridges built in Darlington are found as far away as the River Nile and the River Amazon.^[4] The large engineering firm Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company still has its headquarters in the town. The firm built the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge and the Humber Bridge, among others.^[12] One of the leading engine building firms, Cummins, has major premises in Darlington, and it houses the industrial headquarters of AMEC.^[13] The engineering companys Darlington Forge Company (cl.1967) and Whessoe also originated in Darlington

Other[link]

In 1870, The Northern Echo newspaper was launched. It is based in Priestgate and is a long-standing part of life in the North East. Although a local paper, it is a full-bodied newspaper in its own right and includes national and international news in its scope. William Thomas Stead was a notable editor of The Northern Echo. Opposite The Northern Echo building is The William Stead public house, restaurant and beer garden. It was announced on 9 April 2011 that The Northern Echo are to relocate in way for a Cornmill Shopping Centre expansion.^[14]

Recent history[link]

In 1939, Darlington had the most cinema seats per head of population in the United Kingdom.^[5] The town centre has undergone a full refurbishment entitled The Pedestrian Heart, which has seen the majority of the town centre pedestrianised.^[15] Initially, the project received criticism surrounding changes to public transport, and removal of Victorian features along High Row.^[16][17] There is now growing evidence, however, that the now-completed changes are meeting with local approval.^[18]

In 2007 planning permission was granted for a new shopping centre to replace the dated and unsuccessful Queen Street shopping centre. Planned to open in 2010, the project has sinced stalled, with any works yet to take place.

In August 2008 the King's Hotel in the town centre was devastated by fire, severely damaging the roof and 100 bedrooms. Several shops, including Woolworths, were damaged and had to close for weeks afterwards. No one was killed in the blaze. Work on the restoration of the building was completed by the end of 2011.

Government[link]

On 1 April 1997, the Borough of Darlington became a unitary authority area, which separated it from the non-metropolitan county of Durham for administrative purposes. The current MP is Jenny Chapman.

Geography[link]

Darlington in 2004

Darlington is located in the Tees Valley, and is often slated as 'the gateway to the Tees Valley'. Although the Tees Valley is often known for its industry, comparatively little in the way of industry exists in Darlington.

Darlington is close to the Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales and Cleveland Hills; the North York Moors are also within easy reach of the town. Both the River Tees and River Skerne pass through the town, the River Skerne later joining the River Tees which then flows into the North Sea.

Darlington railway station (Bank Top) lies on the East Coast Main Line. There are also local services from the historic North Road railway station and associated Darlington Railway Centre and Museum.

Suburbs[link]

There are several suburbs of Darlington. In the north are Harrowgate Hill, Harrowgate Village and Beaumont Hill and to the northeast are Whinfield are Haughton Le Skerne. To the east is Eastbourne with Firthmoor and Skerne Park to the south and situated in the west end are Hummersknott, Mowden and Blackwell. Finally, to the northwest are Branksome, Cockerton, Faverdale, The Denes, West Park, High Grange and Pierremont which is associated with the notable Henry Pease (MP).^[19][20]

The suburbs to the south west and west of the town centre are the most affluent, newly built homes, featuring large detached homes in leafy streets; especially the suburb of Blackwell which features a golf course and a rugby football club. The suburbs to the north of the town centre are the least affluent areas of the town.

Twin towns[link]

Darlington is twinned with:

• Mülheim an der Ruhr in Germany.
• Amiens in France.^[21]

Economy[link]

Part of the town centre; newly refurbished pavements are noticeable

Darlington memorial hospital

Darlington market hall

The Cornmill Centre

Orange are the largest private sector employers in the town, hiring 2500 people.^[22] Nevertheless there are major engineering sites, with both Cleveland Bridge and the industrial arm of AMEC headquartered in the town. Cummins also operate a major engine building site.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Darlington at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Darlington is historically a market town with a well established weekly outdoor market and a thriving indoor market located underneath the town clock on Prebend Row. Also located on Prebend Row is the Cornmill Shopping centre which is the main retail area of Darlington. The market square is one of the biggest in the country.^[27]

Darlington attracts people from a wide area to its newly pedestrianised town centre. The retail is remaining strong even through the economic downturn of 2009. House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer both have outlets in the town centre, with Debenhams scheduled to open in 2014.^[28]

Culture[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The Civic Theatre is a popular arts venue in the town, hosting a mix of musicals, dramas, plays and pantomimes. The smaller but well-used Arts Centre, founded in 1982, features smaller events, film screenings and more experimental material.

The Rhythm'n'Brews festival is a music and real ale festival normally held in early autumn, with many rock, blues and jazz acts playing at various venues around Darlington, as well as a Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) run bar at the Arts Centre.

The Forum Music Centre, opened in 2004, hosts regular live music events, from Ska and Punk to Indie and Classic Rock. Also runs a popular comedy club. As well as live music, the facility houses a state of the art recording studio and several rehearsal rooms. The Carmel Rhythm Club is another place for music. Held at Carmel College in the Hummersknott end of town. A charitable organisation for the Carmel PTA (Parents and Teachers Association) attracts many large bands in the genre of rhythm and blues.

Darlington town centre has built a strong focus on independent shopping, giving a breathing space from the usually high street national stores and introducing a varied and popular shopping experience. Grange Road has a number of expensive and attractive designer stores, Duke Street houses art galleries and restaurants and nestled between the two is Skinnergate, which holds the greatest variety of interesting and original stores.

Darlington Dog Show has been a championship event since 1969. It was normally held in September on the showground in South Park, although in more recent years it has moved to Ripon.

Football teams in the town are Darlington, a team in the Football Conference, and Darlington Railway Athletic, a team in the Northern League. The rugby teams are Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C., who were promoted as champions from National League Three in 2011/12 and will play in National League 2 as of 2012/13, and Darlington RFC. Cricket clubs are Darlington Cricket Club and Darlington Railway Athletic Cricket Club. The Darlington 10K road run is held every August, and attracts several thousand competitors. The Dolphin Centre, which provides a wide range of sporting facilities, was opened by Roger Bannister in 1982, and received a £5 m refurbishment in 2006 and was later given a new official opening by Redcar athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson.

Darlington Library, an impressive Grade II listed building situated in Crown Street, was a gift to the town from Edward Pease, a leading Darlington Quaker. Edward Pease (1834–1880) left £10,000 in his will to build either a free library in Darlington or to be used for other educational purposes. The people of Darlington voted to adopt the Free Libraries Act and the town's first free library was officially opened on 23 October 1885, by his daughter, Lady Lymington.^[29] The building now houses the Central Lending Department, Reference Library and Centre for Local Studies.

Darlington Memorial Hospital on Hollyhurst Road, lies in the corridor between Woodland Road and The Denes.

Transport[link]

Road[link]

The Great North Road, now known as the A1, used to run directly through the centre of Darlington. It connects Darlington to Edinburgh, Sunderland and Newcastle in the North and Leeds, York and London in the South. The road has since been diverted to the west of the town; the original route is now the A167 via North Road in the town centre. The £5.9 m five-mile (8 km) A66 Darlington Eastern Bypass opened on November 25, 1985 and is currently undergoing major reconstruction in an effort to reduce congestion at rush hour. The Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor, linking Central Park (Haughton Road) north-east of the town centre to a new roundabout on the A66, was opened in the summer of 2008. The A1(M) Darlington Bypass opened in May 1965.

Rail[link]

Darlington railway station

Darlington is served by Darlington railway station (or Darlington Bank Top railway station) which is on the East Coast Main Line and has regular services to London Kings Cross, Leeds City station, Wakefield Westgate, Edinburgh Waverley, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport and Newcastle. North Road railway station is situated just outside of Darlington town centre. Darlington Bank Top railway station also serves as the mainline interchange for Middlesbrough railway station, which itself has few intercity services. Darlington railway station boasts a large Victorian clock tower which, in the relatively low rise town centre, can be seen throughout large areas of the town.

Bus[link]

Arriva buses in Darlington

Bus transport in the town is provided by Arriva North East and Scarlet Band. Darlington lost out on considerable public receipts when the municipal bus operator Darlingon Transport Company was placed into administration during an attempted privatisation, due to continuing financial difficulties and the Darlington Bus War.

Arriva run most of the bus services in the town, and Scarlet Band operate five routes, primarily the services with fewer passengers. Arriva used to run the routes now operated by Scarlet Band but Darlington Council re-tendered them due to financial trouble in early 2009 after the re-shuffle of the Bus system. .

Stagecoach used to operate in the town (since the Bus War) until 2007, when they sold their operations to Arriva. Arriva therefore became the main bus operator, operating nearly all routes in the town, until Scarlet Band became present in early 2009.

Darlington was chosen by the Department for Transport as one of three national Sustainable Travel Demonstration Towns (together with Peterborough and Worcester) in 2004, and has successfully delivered a three year research and marketing programme to promote sustainable travel choices under the brand name 'Local Motion'. It was also chosen as one of six cycling demonstration towns in October 2005, receiving £3 million worth of funding from the government and local authority money.^[30] The money has been spent over the course of three years on improving cycling facilities and routes, and linking the town to the national cycle route network. Darlington is the only place to win both sustainable travel and cycling demonstration town status.^[31]

Airport[link]

Five miles east of the town centre is Durham Tees Valley Airport (formerly Teesside Airport), which has flights to a few domestic locations across the UK and international flights to locations across Europe. The nearest larger airports are Newcastle Airport (47.6 miles) and Leeds Bradford International Airport (62.0 miles). Darlington also has direct rail links with Manchester Airport (124 miles).

Education[link]

The town has the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College (former grammar school). There are many other schools including: Haughton Community School,Abbey Junior School, Branksome Science College, Longfield Academy of sport, Hummersknott School & Language College, Carmel RC Technology College, Hurworth School, Haughton School which is now known as the Darlington Education Village, is a pioneering partnership of 3 schools providing inclusive learning to all. It includes Beaumont Hill School, Springfield Primary and Haughton School. Darlington College is the newly built FE College. Teesside University opened a Darlington campus in 2011 offering higher education in the town to students and businesses. The town has other schools that have become Academies, this includes Eastbourne Comprehensive School, which has now become St. Aidan's Church Of England Academy. The town is also home to two independent schools - Yarm at Raventhorpe (formally Raventhorpe Preparatory School), and Polam Hall School which caters for boys and girls aged three to eighteen. A third independent school, Hurworth House School in the neighbouring village of Hurworth-on-Tees, closed in 2010.

Media[link]

Darlington is home to the regional daily paper The Northern Echo and its sister weekly paper Darlington & Stockton Times. A radio station of the TLRC network, Star Radio North East, broadcasts from the town.^[32]

In November 2009 the town appointed an official 'Twitterer in residence', the first of its kind in the UK. Mike McTimoney (known on Twitter as TheDarloBard) is a local regular Twitter user who has been officially charged with tweeting for and about Darlington,^[33] and to help promote The Darlington Experiment 2.0, the town's social media campaign.

Sport[link]

the Darlington Arena, home of Darlington F.C..

The town is home to the football team Darlington F.C., known as The Quakers because of the contributions made to the town by men such as Edward and Joseph Pease, members of the Religious Society of Friends. The town's football club play at the 25,000 capacity Darlington Arena which opened on Neasham Road in 2003 after 120 years at Feethams. In 2010 they were relegated from the Football League, 21 years after they suffered a similar fate where they were then promoted back from the Football Conference at the first attempt. In the 2010–11 season Darlington won the FA Trophy but were relegated four divisions to the Northern League Division One for 2012-13 Darlington will play 2012 - 2013 season at Heritage Park in Bishop Auckland.

Darlington's leading Rugby Union club is Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C.. Mowden were promoted as champions from National League Three in 2011/12 and will play in National League 2 as of 2012/13. As a result, Mowden are the highest placed sports team in Darlington.

Notable people[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011)

• George Allison - Football manager in the 1930s
• James Atkinson - (1780–1852) surgeon, artist and Persian scholar
• Garry Williamson Barnes - Footballer
• Zoe Birkett - Singer and runner up on television show 'Pop Idol'
• David J. Bodycombe - Games designer
• Aidan Chambers - Prize-winning children's author
• Tom Craddock - Footballer
• James Cudworth - Locomotive Superintendent for the South Eastern Railway (1845–76)
• Giles Deacon - British Fashion Designer
• J. M. Dent - Publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series.
• Frederick Dickens - Charles Dickens' beloved scapegrace brother. He is buried in the West Cemetery.
• Elizabeth Esteve-Coll (née Kingdon) b 1938, daughter of a Darlington bank clerk. She became director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London - the first woman to head a national arts institution.
• Ruth Gemmell - Actress
• Ian Hamilton - Poet and editor
• Ralph Hodgson - Poet
• George Gordon Hoskins - Architect responsible for many of Darlington's Victorian buildings
• Glenn Hugill^{[citation needed]} - Actor and TV producer
• Richard Hurndall - Actor
• Mary Lawson - Stage and film actress of 1920s and 1930s^[34][35]
• Michael Lee - Drummer (Little Angels, The Cult, Page and Plant, Thin Lizzy)
• Neil Maddison - Footballer
• James Morrison - Footballer
• Edward Pease (1767-1858) - Quaker industrialist
• Joseph Pease (1799-1872) - Industrialist; the first Quaker M.P.
• Vic Reeves - Comedian and author
• Katherine Maria Routledge, née Pease (1866–1935) archaeologist who undertook first scientific survey of Easter Island archaeology.
• Willie Smith - Twice world billiards champion (only entered twice).
• William Thomas Stead - Editor of The Northern Echo; Victorian social commentator who died on the Titanic
• Sir John Summerson - Architectural writer
• David Varey (born 1961) - Former cricketer^[36]
• Paul Walton^{[citation needed]} - Motoring Journalist
• Giuseppe Wilson - Footballer, Lazio's second highest capped player
• Darrien Wright - Strictly Dance Fever winner

See also[link]

North East England portal

• Darlington Corporation Light Railways
• Trolleybuses in Darlington

References and notes[link]

External links[link]

• Media related to Darlington at Wikimedia Commons
• Darlington Borough Council
• Statistics about Darlington from the Office for National Statistics Census 2001
• Darlington Tourist Information
• Darlington Railway Centre & Museum
• Historic Postcards of Darlington
• [1]

Kyle Thomas Busch
Born	(1985-05-02) May 2, 1985 (age 27) Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Achievements	2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion 2008 Southern 500 Winner 2012 Budweiser Shootout Winner 2009 Snowball Derby Winner
Awards	2004 NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
269 race(s) run over 9 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 18 (Joe Gibbs Racing)
2011 position	12th
Best finish	5th – 2007
First race	2004 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 (Las Vegas)
Last race	2012 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
First win	2005 Sony HD 500 (California)
Last win	2012 Capital City 400 (Richmond)
Wins Top tens Poles 24 128 8
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
229 race(s) run over 10 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 54 (Kyle Busch Motorsports)
2011 position	90th
Best finish	1st – 2009
First race	2003 Carquest Auto Parts 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	2012 History 300 (Charlotte)
First win	2004 Funai 250 (Richmond)
Last win	2011 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Richmond)
Wins Top tens Poles 51 152 23
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
101 race(s) run over 9 year(s)
2011 position	81st
Best finish	14th – 2008/2010
First race	2001 Power Stroke Diesel 200 (Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis)
Last race	2011 WinStar World Casino 350K (Texas)
First win	2005 Quaker Steak and Lube 200 (Charlotte)
Last win	2011 New Hampshire 175 (New Hampshire)
Wins Top tens Poles 30 78 12
Statistics current as of May 27, 2012.

Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American NASCAR driver and team owner. He currently drives the No. 18 Mars, Inc./Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series and owns Kyle Busch Motorsports, which runs the #54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry for Kyle and his brother Kurt in the Nationwide Series and the #18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra for Jason Leffler in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

He currently holds the modern-era record for most race wins in a season across the top three NASCAR series with twenty-four wins, which he accomplished in 2010. On August 21, 2010, Busch became the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR's top three touring series in the same weekend (Bristol). Busch became the first driver in Nationwide series history to lead more than 10,000 laps.^[1] Busch also holds the record for the most NASCAR Nationwide Series wins with 51, surpassing Mark Martin's 49.

Busch is also only the second driver to ever win on his birthday, winning the 2009 Crown Royal Presents the Russell Friedman 400 at Richmond International Raceway, which was run on his 24th birthday. Cale Yarborough was the first.

Kyle Busch married Samantha Sarcinella on December 31, 2010 in Chicago. Sarcinella is a native of St. John, Indiana and a graduate of Purdue University.

He is the younger brother of 2004 Nextel Cup Series champion Kurt Busch.

Early life[link]

Kyle Busch's first driving lessons came at the age of 6 when he drove around the cul-de-sac of his family's Las Vegas neighborhood in a makeshift go-kart. Although he was too small to reach the throttle, Busch still was able to pick up the basics from his father Tom, who controlled the gas pedal as his young son steered the kart. Throughout his childhood, Busch spent many hours as an apprentice to his father and older brother Kurt in the family garage learning to build and repair race cars. By the age of 10, he was a full-fledged mechanic and served as crew chief of his older brother's dwarf car team. In addition to working on cars, Busch enjoyed forms of martial arts, including karate.

In 1998, shortly after his 13th birthday, Busch's driving career officially began. From 1999 through 2001, Busch earned more than 65 wins in legends car racing as he racked up two track championships at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's "Bullring" before moving to late models. He captured 10 victories in late model competition at the Bullring in 2001.^[2]

Early career[link]

At the age of 16, Busch began competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (now Camping World Truck Series) for Roush Racing as a replacement for Nathan Haseleu and Chuck Hossfeld, who were released midway in the 2001 season. He made his debut at Indianapolis Raceway Park, impressing many people with a 9th place finish. In his second race at Chicago Motor Speedway, he was leading with less than 20 laps to go until his truck ran out of fuel with 12 laps to go.

Busch was the fastest in practice for a 2001 Craftsman Truck Series race at California Speedway in Fontana, CA, when he was ejected from the track by CART officials because the American Racing Wheels 200 was part of a CART weekend featuring the Marlboro 500 CART FedEx Championship Series event.^[3] Marlboro threw Busch out of the garage because of an interpretation of the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, prohibiting people under 18 years of age in participating in events sponsored by tobacco companies. He earned two top-10 finishes in six starts in the #99 Eldon Ford F-150 in what had been scheduled to be a full-season campaign for 2002.

Six weeks after the incident, NASCAR imposed a minimum age of 18 years starting in 2002 to prevent future incidents from happening again, because Winston was the premier series sponsor at the time. When the age requirements were put in place, Busch switched from NASCAR to the American Speed Association (ASA) series, finishing 8th in points.

In 2002, Busch graduated a year early with honors from Durango High School in Las Vegas, Nevada to focus on his driving career. That same year, he made his debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway, finishing twelfth in the #22 WP Motorsports Chevrolet.

In 2003, Busch signed a driver development contract with Hendrick Motorsports, and drove seven ARCA races in their #87 ditech entry. He won his first two races at Nashville Superspeedway and Kentucky Speedway, and won his most recent ARCA race the following year at Daytona.

He is often nicknamed "Shrub", since he is the younger brother of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch and a small bush is called a shrub.^[4]

NASCAR career[link]

2003–2007[link]

Upon turning 18, Busch partnered with Hendrick Motorsports to run six NASCAR Busch Series races at selected tracks, running the #87 Ditech.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo for NEMCO Motorsports. During his seat time in that ride, Busch finished a Busch Series career-high second in his first NASCAR Busch Series race at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in May 2003.

Busch's first full-time season began in 2004, as he competed in the Lowe's car vacated by Brian Vickers, who had moved up to the NEXTEL Cup series. Busch clinched Rookie of the Year honors in the series, receiving his first top-10 finish of the season at the second race in Rockingham, won his first pole of the season in the fifth race, and claimed his first victory at the Richmond International Raceway at the Funai 250 in May.^[5] Busch went on to claim five wins in 2004, making him the record holder of most races won by a driver in their rookie season,^[6] and finished second to Martin Truex, Jr. in the overall points. Busch also qualified for six Nextel Cup races out of nine attempts in 2004 in the #84 Carquest Chevrolet for Hendrick, his highest finish being 24th at California Speedway.

After the announcement that long time Hendrick NEXTEL Cup series driver Terry Labonte would be running a limited schedule in 2005 and 2006, Busch was picked to take over the #5 Kellogg's/Carquest Auto Parts Chevrolet Monte Carlo, crew chiefed by Alan Gustafson. He won his first career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race on September 4 in the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway,^[7] driving for Rick Hendrick. At the end of the season Busch won the 2005 Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year with 2 wins and a 20th place points finish.^[8] The earlier win at Fontana made Busch eligible to become a part of the 20 NASCAR Triple Threats, a group of drivers who have won a race in NASCAR's top three divisions. At the time, he was the youngest-ever winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, at 20 years, 125 days, a mark that has since been eclipsed by current teammate Joey Logano. He also became the youngest pole sitter in NEXTEL Cup history after winning the pole for the 2005 Auto Club 500.^[9]

Kyle Busch speeds out of the garage at Phoenix International Raceway

Busch returned to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2005 for a limited number of races in Billy Ballew Motorsports's Chevrolets, winning his first career truck series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 20, 2005, becoming the youngest driver to win a Truck Series race, at 20 years 19 days.^[10] He would also win the truck race at Dover International Speedway, and the fall race in Atlanta Motor Speedway, both 200-mile races. In addition, he ran a limited schedule in the Busch Series driving the #5 and #57 for Hendrick. He won at Lowe's Motor Speedway; but did not qualify for the race at Texas Motor Speedway, a track he had won the pole at one year earlier.

In 2006, he took the victory in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, and qualified for the Chase for the Cup during the last race before the 2006 Chase at Richmond International Raceway, in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, where he finished second after leading the most laps. He entered the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup fourth in Cup points. Busch started the first race of the Chase mid-pack in the 43 car field at the New Hampshire International Speedway but got caught up in an incident on lap four when he and the #66 Best Buy Chevrolet of Jeff Green made contact, knocking his front suspension out of line, and eventually spun out and wrecked the car. Busch followed up the next week at Dover International Speedway with an initially strong run before an engine failure took him out of the race. Busch then went to the Kansas Speedway and led several laps before being caught for speeding on pit road and finished in the bottom half of the top-ten. He finished the season in tenth place in the 2006 NEXTEL Cup standings, 448 points behind champion Jimmie Johnson. His winnings for the 2006 season sum up to $5,537,337. Busch is currently the youngest driver to make the NASCAR NEXTEL Chase for the Cup.

Busch repeated his Lowe's victory in 2006 in a truck painted to resemble the Rowdy Burns car from Days of Thunder, in a tribute to Bobby Hamilton (who was the stunt driver for the character), who was in the midst of a cancer battle which would later take his life. In addition, he ran nearly the entire 2006 season in the #5 Lowe's/Shop-Vac Chevy, winning one race and finishing seventh in points despite skipping one race.

Busch became the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver to win in NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow at the 2007 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He also scored Hendrick Motorsports their 200th NASCAR win (in all series), and also scored Chevrolet's 600th NASCAR victory, the first by the Chevrolet Impala since Wendell Scott's 1963 win in Jacksonville, Florida.^[11] At the Aaron's 312 Busch Race at Talladega, Busch went on a wild ride down the backstretch when he got turned into teammate Casey Mears' car by Tony Stewart. The car spun towards the outside wall and flipped onto its roof. The car then slid down the track and hit the turn 3 grass, flipping side over side. The car flipped a total of seven times, but Busch walked away unscathed. In the Nextel All-Star Challenge at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, he and older brother Kurt Busch got together, knocking them both out of the race. In June 2007, Busch announced his plans to leave Hendrick Motorsports after the 2007 season. The two sides had been working on a contract extension but eventually agreed mutually to part ways.^[12] It was announced the same day that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be replacing him at Hendrick Motorsports. However, days later Busch stated that he had no idea he was going to be released.^[13] It was announced two months later that Busch had chosen Joe Gibbs Racing for his team in the 2008 season. He replaced J. J. Yeley in the #18 Toyota Camry, with M&M's coming over from Yates Racing as the primary sponsor. In the Busch Series, he ran nineteen races and won four times, garnering a sixteenth-place points finish. He also made eleven starts in the Craftsman Truck Series for Billy Ballew in the #51 Flanders Beef Patties truck, winning 3 times.^[14]

2008–2011[link]

Kyle Busch's 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Car

Busch's tenure with Joe Gibbs started off with leading the most laps (86) in the 50th Annual Daytona 500 before finishing 4th. He followed that with another 4th place finish in the Auto Club 500. As a result, he took the lead in the points standings for the first time in his career. Busch led 173 of the 325 laps and won the Kobalt Tools 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was the 5th career win for Busch, and the first Sprint Cup points race victory for Toyota.

On August 23 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards tapped Busch's rear bumper on lap 470/500 to take the lead Busch had owned for most of the race. After the race, Busch pulled alongside to bump into Edwards repeatedly, to "let him know I didn't appreciate the way he passed me."^[15] Edwards responded by spinning out Busch. The following week, NASCAR announced that both Edwards and Busch were being placed on probation for the off-track argument.^[16]

Busch's hopes for his first championship were dashed by two consecutive DNF's at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway, wiping out his 20-point lead and dropping him to 12th in points. However, Busch ralled back with top fives and gained two more spots to close out his first season with JGR 10th in points. Busch had a career-high eight wins and twenty-one top-tens that season.

Busch also ran 30 Nationwide races, and along with Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Tony Stewart helped win the 2008 Nationwide series Owners Championship for Joe Gibbs Racing for the number 20 car. He ran in the series for three different teams and in 4 different numbers, running Braun Racing's number 32 with Beringer and Dollar General sponsorship, the 92 Toyota with Zippo BLU sponsorship for D'Hondt Motorsports in the Zippo 200, and for Joe Gibbs Racing in the number 18 with sponsorship from Interstate Batteries, DLP, Z-Line Designs and Southern Farm Bureau Insurance and the number 20 with Doosan Infracore, Farm Bureau and Z-Line as sponsors.

Busch accumulated 4 poles, 20 top tens and 18 top fives in his partial season, and won 10 races which tied the Nationwide series record for most wins in a season with Sam Ard, who had accomplished the feat some 24 years earlier. In the Craftsman Truck Series, Busch finished second in the Chevy Silverado 250 at Daytona International Speedway, and followed it up a week later with a win in the San Bernardino County 200 at the newly named Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Two weeks later at Atlanta, he raced to another win in the American Commercial Lines 200. Busch acquired his 2nd Craftsman Truck Series pole in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.^[17] His 3rd win of the 2008 truck series season was at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, August 20, 2008.

Kyle Busch on pit road at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

On February 12 2009, Busch won the second Gatorade Duel at Daytona. This was the first qualifying race win for Busch, allowing him to start fourth in the 51st Daytona 500. Busch led 88 laps, leading the most for the second year in a row. However, he was taken out on lap 125 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned into Brian Vickers' car, starting a chain reaction crash that sent Vickers into Busch's car, wrecking it, and several other lead lap cars. The following week, Busch made NASCAR history, becoming the first person in the history of the sport to win races in two of NASCAR's touring series in the same day by winning the San Bernardino County 200 in the afternoon and the Stater Brothers 300 in the evening. The next week, he won the 2009 Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his hometown. After the race, he and his brother exchanged a long, passionate hug, perhaps signaling the end of their feud. Darrell Waltrip was quoted as saying it was the "sweetest thing he had ever seen".^[18] Busch was the first to win three Cup races in 2009, collecting his third win at Richmond International Raceway. With his win in the 2009 Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400, Busch joined Cale Yarborough as the only drivers to win on their birthday.

Busch was involved in a violent wreck at the end of the 2009 Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway. While leading on the final lap, only yards from the finish line, Tony Stewart and Busch made contact, sending Busch spinning hard into the outside wall, his car nearly flipping over, which was then hit by Kasey Kahne, sending the car up on its nose. Busch took another hard hit in the driver's side from teammate Joey Logano before spinning to a stop in the infield. Stewart won the race.^[19]

Busch would finsh 5th at Richmond, but he missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup by 8 points. Brian Vickers would get the last spot.

2009 Nationwide championship car at Milwaukee

In the Nationwide Series on November 21, 2009, Kyle Busch won both the Nationwide Series finale and his first NASCAR Championship, becoming the first driver since Sam Ard in 1983 to win the season finale and the championship in the same year.^[20][21][22] Busch finished the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series season with 9 wins, 25 top 5's, and 30 top 10's.

Busch's 2009 season in the newly-renamed Camping World Truck Series started off much like the 2008 season had. Finishing second in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway to Todd Bodine, as they had finished in 2008, Busch then dominated the San Bernardino County 200 a week later at Auto Club Speedway, winning the pole and leading 95 of 100 laps. Bodine finished second – again, the same as the two had finished in this race the year before. The following race, the American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch again won the pole, and overcame an ill-handling truck as well as transmission problems to take the lead in the closing laps. Busch was able to hold off Kevin Harvick to win the race for the second year in a row. It was his fourth win in five Truck Series starts at Atlanta.

On December 11, 2009, Kyle Busch announced the formation of Kyle Busch Motorsports that will field two teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2010. KBM will have two truck teams running in the series.^[23] The #18 Toyota Tundra was to be driven by Busch part time, with the remainder of races to be driven by Brian Ickler. The second truck, the #56 Toyota Tundra, was to be driven by Tayler Malsam. However, after both Ickler and Malsam accepted jobs to drive in the Nationwide Series, and while suffering financial troubles due to lack of sponsorship, Busch withdrew the #56 from competition and has hired various drivers such as Johnny Benson and Kasey Kahne as well as Brian Ickler to fill in on #18 when Busch wasn't driving it himself.

On August 21, 2010, Kyle Busch became the first driver in NASCAR history to win all 3 NASCAR tour events in one weekend. This was achieved at Bristol with a win for the Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series, and the Sprint Cup Series. Busch started 19th in his Doublemint Toyota. He worked his way to the front, but Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart led him until a caution came out. Stewart checked up, allowing Tony Raines in the #37 car to hit his rear bumper, losing him the lead and the race. On the restart, Busch passed Johnson for the lead, but soon after Johnson was turned into the wall by Juan Pablo Montoya. Kyle Busch continued on to win the race leading the most laps and setting yet another record. Now Kyle is one of the most dominant forces in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Series. In the Nationwide series he won 11 races in 2010, breaking the all-time record for most Nationwide Series wins in a season previously held by Sam Ard with 10. On October 30, 2010, Busch scored a controversial victory in the Camping World Truck Series Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, which saw Busch's truck wiggle below the track's double-yellow "out-of-bounds" line as Busch made the winning pass on second-place finisher Aric Almirola at the finish line.

For 2011, Busch's Speedweeks started off on a low note, as he crashed out of the Budweiser Shootout along with teammate Joey Logano. Busch also raced in all 3 NASCAR events at Daytona, finishing 5th in the Truck Race, 7th in the Nationwide race, and 8th in the Daytona 500. The next week at Phoenix, Busch dominated the Truck race and led every single lap in the Bashas' Supermarkets 200. Kyle Would also Sweep the weekend at Bristol in the Nationwide and Cup Series on the March 19th and March 20 Race Weekend at Thunder Valley. On April 30, 2011, Kyle won at Richmond International Raceway, capturing his 2nd win in the 2011 season. Following an on-track incident with Kevin Harvick during and after the Southern 500 at Darlington Speedway, Kyle was fined $25,000 and put on probation for 4 races (plus the All-Star Race).^[24]

Following the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250, pit reporter Ray Dunlap tweeted, “Hot news from the track. Grandpa Childress put a whipping on Kyle Busch in the truck garage". Dunlap mistakenly referred to him as "kubu", which is Twitter shorthand for Kurt Busch, who was not involved.

It is believed that Kyle Busch's post-race bump of Joey Coulter, who drove the #22 Richard Childress Racing-owned Chevrolet Silverado, was in response to Coulter passing Busch on the final lap. About 30 minutes after the race, witnesses say that Childress came up to Busch, put him in a head lock and started punching him. Busch, who was still on probation at the time of the incident, did not violate his probation. Childress, however, was fined $150,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until December 31, 2011. Busch said in an interview that he did not hit Coulter's truck intentionally and that it was a congratulatory bump. He also said that he would pay Childress for the damage on Coulter's truck.^[25]

On August 21, 2011, Busch won the Pure Michigan 400 for his 4th victory of the 2011 season and became the first man to clinch a spot in the Chase. Jeff Gordon was the class of the field late, but after a late race debris caution, Busch beat Gordon and Matt Kenseth out of the pits and held off Jimmie Johnson for the win.

On August 26, 2011 Busch won the Nationwide Series at Bristol Motor Speedway surpassing Mark Martin for the most Nationwide series wins ever, with 50, and also simultaneously became the first driver to win three consecutive races at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Nationwide Series. He also won this race in one of the closest finishes in series history, as he won the race by 0.019 seconds over teammate Joey Logano.

On November 4, 2011, Busch was involved in an incident during the 2011 WinStar World Casino 350K at Texas Motor Speedway. After a racing incident with series regular and championship contender Ron Hornaday, Busch deliberately turned him into the outside wall under caution, ending Hornaday's title hopes. NASCAR black-flagged Busch for the rest of the race. The next morning, NASCAR announced that Busch would remain parked for the remainder of the weekend, including the 2011 O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge and the 2011 AAA Texas 500. NASCAR took this action under rules that allow it to park a driver in order to ensure the "orderly conduct of the event," an action which is not appealable. Denny Hamlin and Michael McDowell stepped up to replace Busch in both the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup series races. It was the first time since what is now the Camping World Truck Series was launched in 1995 that NASCAR has parked a driver across all three national series, and only the third cross-series sanction in NASCAR's 64-year history.^[26] NASCAR's action mathematically eliminated Busch from contention for the Sprint Cup, though any realistic chance of him winning it ended earlier in the Chase.

Later that day, Busch issued an apology to his fans, sponsors and teammates, saying that the Texas incident was "certainly a step backward."^[27]

On November 7, NASCAR fined Busch $50,000 for "actions detrimental to stock car racing." While it lifted the parking directive, it placed Busch on probation for the rest of the year, saying that he will be suspended indefinitely if he commits another offense detrimental to stock car racing or disrupts the orderly conduct of a NASCAR event.^[28]

On November 10, ESPN's David Newton reported that M&M's, the primary sponsor for Busch's Sprint Cup team, wanted its name off the car for the last two races of the 2011 season. M&M's maker, Mars, Incorporated, had harshly criticized Busch's behavior in Texas. Newton said that this has led Joe Gibbs Racing to open talks with Aric Almirola about taking over for Busch for the last two Sprint Cup races.^[29] Earlier, Z-Line Designs asked that Hamlin take over as the driver for Busch's Nationwide Series team.^[30] Later that night, however, it was decided that Busch would remain as the driver for the Sprint Cup team, but secondary sponsor Interstate Batteries will be the sole sponsor for the final two races of 2011. M&M's would return as sponsor for the 2012 season.^[31]

2012[link]

Recovering from a disastrous 2011, Busch and the #18 team started off their 2012 season on a high note by winning their first Budweiser Shootout, and for 2012, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that they would also race in the Nationwide Series, alongside his brother, Kurt Busch, driving the #54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, but for only fourteen events in the series for him. Kyle Busch won the Richmond 400 on April 28, 2012, for the fourth year in a row.

Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Statistics[link]

(Data current as of November 5, 2011)^[32]

Formula One[link]

Busch was one of three American drivers under consideration to drive for the US-based Formula One team US F1, along with Alexander Rossi and Jonathan Summerton before the team folded due to economic issues. Busch was scheduled to test drive a Toyota F1 car at the end of 2008 season, but could not make it in the end because of a commitment to the Nationwide Series banquet.

Kyle Busch Foundation[link]

According to the KBFoundation Mission Statement, The Kyle Busch Foundation is dedicated to providing essential tools for less fortunate children throughout the country. KBF will concentrate its efforts on assisting organizations in fostering a safe environment for children to live, learn and challenge themselves as well as seeing that day to day needs are met.^[33] His foundation sponsors his #51 late model which is driven by Alex Haase. Busch also has personal sponsorship deals in place with Monster Energy and Electric Visual, with both appearing on his late model at one time or another.

During the 2008 season, Busch announced the "Kyle's Miles" program, inviting consumers to go to www.dogsrule.com.^[34] Kyle's Miles is a team-up with Pedigree to help dogs in shelters and breed rescue organizations.

Legal troubles[link]

On May 24, 2011, Busch was cited for reckless driving and speeding in Troutman, North Carolina, driving 128 mph (206 km/h) in a 45 mph (72 km/h) speed limit zone.^[35] He claims he got carried away test driving a Lexus LFA and issued a public apology. On August 23, 2011, he received a $1,000 fine and had his license suspended for 45 days after he pleaded guilty to speeding. Busch also will have to serve 30 hours of community service and 1 year of unsupervised probation.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Kyle Busch at Racing Reference