This article is about the sanctioning body. For other meanings see IndyCar (disambiguation). For an overview of U.S. National Championship auto racing, see American Championship Car Racing.

IndyCar
Sport	Open-wheel cars
Area of jurisdiction	North America
Formation date	1996
Headquarters	Indianapolis, IN
President	Randy Bernard
Official website
www.indycar.com

IndyCar is the trade name of an American-based open-wheel auto racing sanctioning body. IndyCar sanctions four racing series, the premier IZOD IndyCar Series^[1] (often abbreviated ICS or IICS) with its centerpiece Indianapolis 500, and developmental series Firestone Indy Lights, the Star Mazda Championship and the U.S. F2000 National Championship, which are all a part of The Road To Indy.

The trade name INDYCAR was officially adopted on January 1, 2011, as the trade name of racing operations of Indy Racing League LLC.

IndyCar is owned by Hulman and Co., which also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex and the Clabber Girl brand.

Sanctioned series[link]

IZOD IndyCar Series[link]

The IndyCar Series is the name adopted in 2003 for the premier series sanctioned by IndyCar. The series was known as the Indy Racing League until the beginning of the 2003 season. Izod was announced as the IndyCar Series title sponsor in 2010, a deal expected to run for at least five years.^[1]

The series initially raced exclusively on oval tracks, as the series was founded partly in response to the increasing prominence of road and street courses on the CART schedule. In 2005, the series abandoned its unofficial ovals-only stance, and added three road–street course events. By 2009, the series had a roughly 50/50 split of ovals and road/street courses.

Firestone Indy Lights[link]

Firestone Indy Lights is the development series for the Izod Indycar series. It originally started in 2002, as the IRL Infiniti Pro Series coincidentally in the same year as CART's own Indy Lights series came to an end. Since the merger of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League, the Indy Lights name returned. The Indy Lights run as support races to IndyCar Series races. In the past, a round during the United States Grand Prix was also apart of the schedule.

Star Mazda Championship[link]

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is an open-wheel racecar driver development series in North America. Competitors use spec Formula Mazda race cars built by Star Race Cars. The original series, using first-generation tube-frame cars started in the early 1990s, with the current, high-tech, carbon-fiber car released in 2004. The series has historically included road courses, street courses, and ovals. The series' primary sponsors are Mazda and Goodyear and the cars, while purpose built for the track with carbon fiber monocoques, are powered by 250 horsepower Mazda 'Renesis' rotary engines. The series' stated goal is "to develop new race driving talent". In 2010 the series became a part of The Road to Indy.

U.S. F2000[link]

USF2000 is a series IndyCar started sanctioning in 2010. Originally started in 1991 and folded in 2006, it was restarted in 2010 as part of the "Road to Indy" ladder series. The series runs with Star Mazda at every event, though it doesn't run at a few races Star Mazda does.

Championship point system[link]

Like other governing bodies, IndyCar awards points based upon where a driver finishes in a race. The systems for both the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights are identical. The top three drivers are separated by ten and five points respectively (see this section table). The fourth through tenth place finishers are separated by two points each. Eleventh through eighteenth are separated by one point each. Eighteenth through twenty-fourth score twelve points each. All other drivers who start the race score ten points. New for 2009, 2 points (instead of 3 points, as in previous years) will be awarded for the driver who leads the most laps, and 1 point will be awarded to the driver who claims the pole position, except at the Indianapolis 500.

For the Indianapolis 500, qualifying points are awarded for all 33 cars at the Indianapolis 500. The point scale slides based on the teams that qualify for the top-nine shootout, then descending by speed and position.

History[link]

Indy car name[link]

"Indy car" is sometimes used as a descriptive name for championship open-wheel auto racing in the United States. The Indy car name derived as a result of the genre's fundamental link to the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race (often referred to as the "Indy 500"), the best-known and most-popular auto race in North America.^{[citation needed]}

Beginning in 1980, the term Indy car was often used to describe the race cars in the events sanctioned by CART, which had become the dominant governing body for open-wheel racing in the United States. The Indianapolis 500, however, remained sanctioned by USAC. CART recognized the Indy 500 on its schedule, and awarded points for finishers in the race from 1980–1995 despite not sanctioning it. The two entities operated separately, but utilized the same equipment.

In 1992, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway registered the IndyCar trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and licensed it to CART, which renamed its championship the IndyCar World Series. All references to the name "CART" were decidedly prohibited, as the series sought to eliminate perceived confusion from casual fans with the term kart.

During the 1996 season, the IndyCar mark was the subject of a fierce legal battle. Prior to the 1996 season, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George had created his own national championship racing series, the Indy Racing League. In March 1996, CART filed a lawsuit against the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in an effort to protect their license to the IndyCar mark which the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had attempted to terminate. In April, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway filed a countersuit against CART to prevent them from further use of the mark. Eventually a settlement was reached in which CART agreed to give up the use of the IndyCar mark following the 1996 season and the IRL could not use the name before the end of the 2002 season.

Following a six-year hiatus, Indy Racing League, LLC announced it would rename their premier series the IndyCar Series for the 2003 racing season. Brickyard Trademarks, Inc., a subsidiary of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, is the current owner of the IndyCar mark and licenses that mark to the Indy Racing League for use in connection with the IndyCar Series. CART (and its successor Champ Car) races outside the United States were still permitted to use the Indy moniker, such as the Toronto Molson Indy and Lexmark Indy 300, though the distinction is moot now, as the two series have unified. Post-unification, a heavy emphasis has been placed on deemphasizing the IRL moniker and replacing it with the IndyCar name. This became official on January 1, 2011 as Indy Racing League LLC adopted as its trade name INDYCAR, with all official documents stating "Indy Racing League LLC, d/b/a INDYCAR."

Split with CART[link]

The Indy Racing League was founded in 1994 by Tony George and began racing in 1996. CART had sanctioned Indy car racing since 1979, when the organization broke away from USAC. George blueprinted the IRL as a lower-cost open-wheel alternative to CART, which had become technology-driven and dominated by a few wealthy multi-car teams, much like Formula One. It initially attracted some of the smaller teams who believed in the vision presented by Tony George.

The split between the IRL and the CART governing body was extremely acrimonious, and both series greatly suffered because of it. The rivalry between competing groups of fans was most active on the Internet, especially on motorsports message boards, and tended to affect any attempts at impartial views of either racing series.

The most bitter point of conflict between CART and the IRL was the Indianapolis 500, long considered the crown jewel of North American motorsports. After the beginning of the IRL in 1996, Tony George restricted entry of the starting 33 cars to 25 IRL cars from full-time IRL teams, with only eight other cars being permitted to start. In retaliation, CART scheduled what was supposed to become its new showcase event, the U.S. 500, at Michigan International Speedway on the same day, but it drew far less fan interest and was discontinued after its 1999 running. Although modified in 1999, the initial Indy 500 policy toward CART was held up as proof of George and the IRL's ill-intent towards CART.

In 1997, Tony George specified new technical rules for less expensive cars and "production based" engines that outlawed the CART-spec cars that had been the mainstay of the race since the late 1970s. For the next few years almost all of the CART teams and drivers did not compete in the race. While this situation allowed many American drivers to participate in an event they might otherwise have been unable to afford, the turbulent political situation and the absence of many top IndyCar drivers, big-name sponsors and faster CART-spec cars cast something of a shadow over the race. It was certainly arguable that to the average fan, the replacement of at least fairly well known foreign drivers by almost-unknown American ones was not perceived as a real gain.

At its inception, the series and George himself were criticized by members of the media and some CART competitors. The IRL's early seasons consisted of sparse schedules, mostly unknown drivers, and inexperienced teams, even in the Indy 500. Eventually, the schedule expanded and the caliber of drivers improved. The IRL began to draw teams from CART starting in 2000, contributing to the latter's bankruptcy, re-branding as Champ Car in 2003, and ultimate demise and absorption by the IRL in 2008.

The IRL–CART split was a primary factor in an overall loss of interest in open-wheel motor racing in North America.^[2] NASCAR has since supplanted open-wheel racing as the most popular auto racing sport in the United States, and from 1995 onward, NASCAR's Daytona 500 has surpassed the IRL's Indianapolis 500 in U.S. television ratings. The split has also hurt overall sponsorship of US open-wheel racing. In 2006 and 2007, several top CART and IRL drivers left for the more lucrative NASCAR, including Dario Franchitti, A.J. Allmendinger, Sam Hornish, Jr., and most recently Danica Patrick,^[3] although Franchitti returned to the IRL for the 2009 season due to a lack of sponsorship in NASCAR.^[4]

In later years, the IndyCar Series has become similar to the CART series from which it separated. The winner's circle of IndyCar is now dominated by a few wealthy teams—including those from the old CART series, such as Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske—a strong contingent of foreign-born drivers, and has a schedule which includes nine races that are not contested on ovals.

Unification with Champ Car[link]

On January 23, 2008, Tony George offered Champ Car management a proposal that included free cars and engine leases to Champ Car teams willing to run the entire 2008 IndyCar Series schedule in exchange for adding Champ Car's dates at Long Beach, Toronto, Edmonton, and Australia to the IndyCar Series schedule, effectively reuniting American open wheel racing.^[5] The offer was initially made in November 2007.^[5] On February 10, 2008, Tony George, along with IRL representatives Terry Angstadt and Brian Barnhart, plus former Honda executive Robert Clarke, traveled to Japan to discuss moving the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi.^[6] Moving that race, or postponing it, would be required in order to accommodate the Long Beach Grand Prix, which was scheduled for the same weekend.^[6] Optimism following the meeting was high.^[7]

In February 2008, Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George and owners of the Champ Car World Series completed an agreement to unify the sport for 2008.^[8] The result was that the Champ Car World Series was suspended except for the Long Beach Grand Prix. Many of the former Champ Car teams moved to the IndyCar Series using equipment provided by the League.

Driver safety[link]

Driver safety has also been a major point of concern, with a number of drivers seriously injured, particularly in the early years of the series. There have been four fatal crashes in the history of the series. Compared to road racing venues, the lack of run-offs on oval tracks, coupled with higher speeds due to the long straights and banked turns, means that there is far less margin for error. Car design was attributed as a leading cause of early injuries, and the series made improvements to chassis design to address those safety concerns. Following a series of spectacular high-profile accidents in 2003, including American racing legend Mario Andretti and former champion Kenny Bräck, as well as the death of Tony Renna in testing at Indianapolis, the IRL made additional changes to reduce speeds and increase safety.

IndyCar was the first racing series to adopt the SAFER soft wall safety system, which debuted at the Indianapolis 500 and has now been installed at almost all major oval racing circuits. The SAFER system research and design was supported and funded in large part by the Hulman-George family and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.^{[citation needed]}

Fatalities[link]

• Scott Brayton – (May 17, 1996), 1996 Indianapolis 500 practice session.
• Tony Renna – (October 22, 2003), Firestone private testing session.
• Paul Dana – (March 26, 2006), 2006 Toyota Indy 300 practice session.
• Dan Wheldon – (October 16, 2011), 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championships.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Hélio Castroneves practicing at the 2007 Indianapolis 500.

• 

  Roberto Moreno practicing the 2007 Indianapolis 500.

• 

  Marco Andretti (left) practicing with father Michael at Indy in 2007.

• 

  A Honda engine for 2007 to 2011.

See also[link]

• List of IndyCar teams
• List of IndyCar Series racetracks
• ABC Sports Indy Racing (video game)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official website of the Indianapolis 500
• IndyCar on Versus.com

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