Kurt Busch

NASCAR Achievements

• 2004 Nextel Cup (now called Sprint Cup) Champion
• 2010 All-Star race winner
• 2011 Sprint Unlimited winner

Sprint Cup Statistics

• Best points finish: 1st (2004)
• First win: 2002 Food City 500 - Bristol
• Last win: 2015 Quicken Loans 400 - Michigan
• Most wins in a season: 4 (2002, 2003)
• Total Sprint Cup wins: 27

Career and Other Info

2004 Championship

Kurt was the first driver to win the championship under the current chase format. At the time he was in the #97 Sharpie Ford for Roush Racing. He won the title by a mere 8 points (an incredibly small margin for the point-system of the time) over Jimmie Johnson. It was the second consecutive championship for owner Jack Roush, as Matt Kenseth won the title the year before.

Sprint Cup Teams

Busch left Roush Fenway Racing under less than desirable circumstances when he was parked (by Jack Roush, not NASCAR) for the final two races of the 2005 season for an incident of drunken and reckless driving in Maricopa County, Arizona. RFR team president stated they were "officially retiring as Kurt Busch's apologists". Busch would later ask to be released from his contract so he could get in the #2 Blue Deuce being vacated by Rusty Wallace at Penske Racing.

On December 5th 2011 it was announced that Kurt and Penske had a mutual agreement to part ways, with NASCAR.com's David Caraviello writing that it was "a crafty little euphemism that allowed Busch to save a little face, but let's be honest here -- with a few years still remaining on his contract and zero elite rides currently available on the Sprint Cup tour, this hardly seems like a career move any driver would make voluntarily".

This likely stemmed from Kurt's near weekly tirades over the radio insulting, and arguably verbally abusing, both crew chief Steve Addington (whom already announced he was leaving the organization) and owner Roger Penske as well as Kurt's numerous issues with the media. The announcement comes weeks after a video of Kurt insulting pit-reporter Dr. Jerry Punch at the series finale race at Miami went viral on YouTube. On December 22nd it was announced that he'd signed a one year deal to drive the #51 Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing in 2012.

Towards the end of the 2012 season it was announced he would replace Regan Smith in the #78 Denver Mattress Chevrolet for Furniture Row Racing beginning with the 2012 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte. In late 2013 Kurt and Gene Haas announced that Kurt would join Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick, and Kevin Harvick as the 4th driver at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.

Radio Sweetheart

Known for his temper tantrums (as is brother Kyle) his mouth often gets him into trouble and feuds with other drivers. Most famously was an incident in 2003 that resulted in Jimmy Spencer punching him in the face. The two have since made peace, though Spencer, now an analyst for SPEED channel, has a recurring segment called "Kurt Busch Radio Sweetheart" that features Busch's profanity-laden radio tirades.

One of his more famous radio meltdowns was the 2010 All-Star race: "This f--king sh-t box! Won't f--king turn! Every f--king week! F--kin tires! F--k these tires! We don't know how many to f--king put on either! 4, 2, none it don't f--king matter!" He went on to win the race, collecting the million dollar prize.

Sibling Rivalry

During the 2007 All-Star race he was wrecked and taken out of the race by his younger brother Kyle. Interviewed after Kurt told the media he wouldn't be eating Kellogg's anytime soon (Kyle's sponsor at the time). The two reportedly didn't speak until Thanksgiving when their grandmother made them bury the hatchet.

In Games

From 2006-2010 Kurt drove the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, or blue deuce, and since alcohol sponsorship isn't featured in NASCAR games his cars featured a similar paint-scheme with his name "Kurt" on the car instead of the Miller Lite logo. DLC for NASCAR The Game 2011 places him in his 2011 ride of the #22 Shell/Pennzoil car, though the 2010 "Kurt" scheme is still available to drive.

Misc

On an episode of the GiantBombcast Ryan Davis was recounting his weekend where he attended the Sprint Cup race in Sonoma. Davis mentioned that Kurt won the race, but mistakenly said he was Australian, likely confusing him with Australian driver Marcos Ambrose.