CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With the passing of Kyle Busch this past Thursday at the age of 41, NASCAR racing lost a superstar, probably one of the best ever, but stock car racing lost a true ambassador to short track competition.
Busch’s NASCAR record speaks for itself – 63 Cup wins, 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts series victories and 69 NASCAR truck division wins. With a total of 234 victories, Busch is the all-time leading driver when it comes to total wins in NASCAR racing.
But Busch never forgot his roots in racing – short track action beginning at “The Bull Ring” in his native Las Vegas. As a youngster, Busch, following his older brother Kurt’s footsteps, raced Legend Cars and late model stock cars.
According to his bio with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013, Busch won over 65 races in Legends Cars action between 1999 and 2001, claiming two track championships at “The Bullring.” In 2001, he transitioned to late model racing, securing 10 victories at the Las Vegas short track that season.
Busch raced stock cars full time with the American Speed Association (ASA) in 2002, competing at tracks including Wisconsin International Raceway and Madison International Speedway in Wisconsin, Hawkeye Downs in Iowa and Salem Speedway, Illiana Motor Speedway and Winchester Speedway in Indiana. Busch finished eighth in the final ASA points that year, starting all of the circuit’s 20 races with 10 “Top 10” finishes.
Gaining national notoriety, Busch continued to keep a short track presence. He would win the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., twice, winning in 2009 and again in 2017. He captured the Winchester 400 at Winchester Speedway in 2009 and grabbed the checkered flag at the Slinger Nationals at Wisconsin’s Slinger Super Speedway in 2011.
More short track victories included the Oxford 250 at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway in 2011, the Midwest Tour Howie Lettow Memorial at the “Milwaukee Mile” in 2013 and even a dirt track victory at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, capturing the special “Prelude to the Dream” race in 2012.
Midwest short track promoter Gregg McKarns summed it up, “He (Busch) cared about asphalt short track racing.”
Kyle Busch – a true racer.
