Event Guide

Kyle Busch

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Kyle Busch has always been on the fast track in life, literally.

At such a young age and in such a short period of time, the Las Vegas native has accomplished a lot on and off the race track.

In order to pursue his racing dream, Busch stepped up his academics, graduating with honors from Durango High School (Las Vegas) a year early.

At 16, Busch earned a pair of top-10 finishes in just six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts before the sanctioning body mandated age restrictions in its top three circuits.

The next year, in 2002, he finished eighth in American Speed Association (ASA) championship points as a rookie and is a two-time Legends Car champion at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In 2003, Hendrick Motorsports formed an alliance that allowed Busch to run six select 2003 NASCAR Busch Series races in the No. 87 Chevrolet of NEMCO Motorsports with primary sponsorship from Ditech.com – leading to his Busch Series debut at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May, where he finished runner up.

That season also saw Busch win the ARCA RE/MAX race at the Nashville Superspeedway in April while making his driving debut for Hendrick Motorsports.

Prior to the 2004 season, Busch posted two victories (Kentucky Speedway, Nashville) and two pole positions (Pocono, Nashville) in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.

In 2004, Busch became the first rookie to finish second in the NASCAR Busch Series standings. He was named NBS Rookie of the Year after he took top rookie honors 25 times in the 34 races. Busch set rookie records with his performance throughout the 2004 season capturing 22 top-10 finishes, five wins, five poles and most laps led at 1,108. His victory total tied Greg Biffle for most wins by a rookie in the Busch Series since the program was created in 1989.

In 2005, Busch moved up to the NEXTEL Cup Series where he won the Rookie of the Year crown after capturing two wins, one pole and 13 top 10s. He also combined for four wins in the Busch and Truck Series that season.

The 2006 campaign was a very busy one for Busch, as he competed full time on both the NEXTEL Cup circuit, 34 of 35 races in the Busch Series and seven additional races in the Craftsman Truck Series. Nonetheless, he found success at most every corner – winning once and finishing in the top-10 in all of his Truck races, scoring one win and finishing seventh in the Busch Series standings, and qualifying for the “Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup” en route to finishing the season in 10th place.