BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. — A few years ago, I curated a NASCAR exhibit at the Saratoga Automobile Museum in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where I’m a trustee and curator of the ever-changing “Racing in New York” gallery.
With two galleries full of cars, among them cars raced by Bobby Allison, Curtis Turner, Tony Stewart and Richard Petty, a Craftsman truck from Kevin Harvick and a beautiful Hudson Hornet once driven by NASCAR Short Track national champion and Southern 500 winner Jim Reed, it was a wide-ranging display of NASCAR’s history and personalities.
But what put the exhibit “over the top” were the appearances of Richard Childress, Reed and Ron Hornaday and an evening with Bobby Allison, where I interviewed him for two hours the night prior to him being the guest of honor at the annual museum gala. These very popular events led up to the exhibit finale, an evening with Kyle Busch.
Another museum trustee, a nationally known car collector, had asked me early on if he could do anything to help with the exhibit. Recalling that he had once mentioned that the President of M&M/Mars owned the camp adjacent to his Adirondack mountain hideaway, I told him “Sure, get me Kyle Busch!”
Like so many other great happenings, Alan’s personal relationship with his neighbor was the key to success and word soon came that Kyle would be available during the week prior to the New Hampshire Cup Series race. And knowing that the museum would not hold the expected turnout, we rented a portion of the Saratoga Civic Center that included an entrance that allowed a truck and trailer to back in with space behind it to display a gleaming M&Ms show car.
With a stage and a huge seating area, the venue was perfect. And Kyle even agreed to participate in a private Make-A-Wish meeting with a local child prior to the evening event. It looked like a win/win situation all the way.
But as I prepared for the event, I paid close attention to Busch’s finishes and noted some problem days with crashes and mechanical problems. I’d been hoping he’d come to Saratoga off another convincing win, but it was not to be. Instead, I feared, he might be testy and just going through the motions on yet another of the endless appearances that go with being a NASCAR star.
Then, just before the big night, Kyle’s PR rep sent a list of questions I could ask. Taking a deep breath, I told the PR person that I’d prefer to ask my own questions and explained my background with SPEED SPORT and various other racing publications. Thankfully, that brought a green light to ask whatever I wanted.
With a few questions jotted down, I walked out, thanked the crowd for coming and introduced Kyle Busch to a huge round of applause. But Kyle looked anything but happy to be there, so I improvised and told him how many in the audience loved watching a well-known sprint car driver when he came to the region, a guy he might know: Tony Stewart.
Then I suggested they’d love to see him in short track action up north, maybe in the Oxford 250.
I held my breath until I got his reaction. “I won that race last year!” My reply was a quiet “I know!” and Kyle broke out in a million-dollar smile. The tension was broken.
My next question was whether his brother, Kurt, who had won a race recently in one of Kyle’s Trucks, gave him a family discount when he got his share of the purse. That brought another smile and an interesting answer and we were off to the races.
Kyle showed he was more than a talented driver from that point on, telling great stories, sharing insight and generally giving the audience a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He then offered to sign autographs for everyone despite the fact that his agreed upon time was up.
I then asked the crowd who had graduated from high school and told them it was going to be just like high school graduation, with them going up to the table row by row when called instead of the typical mad stampede. It worked out great. Kyle signed and chatted with the fans, as did his wife, Samantha, and a much larger number of Kyle Busch fans went home than had arrived a few hours earlier.
This lowly scribe left with a big smile as well. It will be a long time before the reality of his passing sinks in, but if you are keeping score, count us as a Kyle Busch fan. That night was one of the great experiences of a lifetime!
