Early life[]
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 in 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.[1]
After graduating at Durango High School, Busch enrolled at the University of Arizona, hoping to earn a degree in Pharmacy.[1]
Bubba Wallace replacing Kurt Busch in No. 45 car
This season Wallace welcomed a new teammate in veteran driver Kurt Busch. The 44-year-old came in and impressed, earning a couple of top-5s in the first five races. In May, he made his first trip to Victory Lane in the No. 45 at Kansas and qualified for the playoffs.
Unfortunately, in July, Busch’s season came to a halt when he sustained a concussion during qualifying at Pocono. Busch has been out of the car since with Ty Gibbs serving as a substitute.
Several weeks ago, with his return unknown, Busch dropped the medical waiver that would have allowed him to return to the playoffs. That move also ended his chance at the Driver’s Championship.
However, this week, with the playoffs starting at Darlington, the team announced that Bubba Wallace would be switching car numbers for the final 10 races of the season to best position the No. 45 car for a shot at the Owner’s Championship.
2005 Phoenix incident[]
Buschs 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.[9] At first, the Sheriffs 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 Buschs apologists.”[10] 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.
FAQ
What is Kurt Busch’s race car number?
With Wallace replacing Busch in the No. 45 car, Ty Gibbs will switch over to the No. 23 car. For Gibbs, this is the perfect opportunity to get some quality time in the seat and prepare for a run at full-time Cup racing in 2023.
What is Kyle Busch’s car number?
Who owns the 42 car in NASCAR?
