Tallula, Illinois and Kyle Busch: Difference between pages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Difference between pages)
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
 
No edit summary
 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Infobox NASCAR driver|
{{Geobox|Settlement
Name = Kyle Thomas Busch |
<!-- *** Heading *** -->
Image = [[Image:Kyle Busch.jpg|center|200px]] |
| name = Tallula
Birthdate = {{birth date and age|1985|05|2}} |
| native_name =
Birthplace = [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]]|
| other_name =
Cup_Car_Team = #18 - [[Joe Gibbs Racing]] |
| category = [[List of towns and villages in Illinois|Village]]
Previous_Year = 2007 |
<!-- *** Names **** -->
Prev_Cup_Pos = 5th |
| etymology =
Best_Cup_Pos = 5th - [[2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series|2007]] (Nextel Cup) |
| official_name =
| motto =
Cup_Wins = 12 |
Cup_Top_Tens = 68 |
| nickname =
Cup_Poles = 7 |
<!-- *** Image *** -->
First_Cup_Race = [[2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series|2004]] [[UAW-Dodge 400|UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400]] ([[Las Vegas Motor Speedway|Las Vegas]]) |
| image =
First_Cup_Win = [[2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series|2005]] [[Sony HD 500]] ([[California Speedway|California]]) |
| image_caption =
Last_Cup_Win = [[2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series|2008]] [[Centurion Boats at the Glen]] ([[Watkins Glen International|Watkins Glen]])|
<!-- *** Symbols *** -->
Busch_Car_Team = #18 - [[Joe Gibbs Racing]]</br>#32,#10 - [[Braun Racing]] |
| flag =
First_Busch_Race = [[2003 NASCAR Busch Series|2003]] [[Carquest Auto Parts 300]] ([[Lowe's Motor Speedway|Charlotte]]) |
| symbol =
First_Busch_Win = [[2004 NASCAR Busch Series|2004]] [[Funai 250]] ([[Richmond International Raceway|Richmond]]) |
<!-- *** Country *** -->
Last_Busch_Win = [[2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series|2008]] [[Dollar General 300]] ([[Lowe's Motor Speedway|Charlotte]]) |
| country = United States
Busch_Wins = 20 |
| state = Illinois
Busch_Top_Tens = 73 |
| region = [[Menard County, Illinois|Menard]]
Busch_Poles = 14 |
| region_type = County
Truck_Car_Team = #51 - [[Billy Ballew Motorsports]] |
| district =
First_Truck_Race = [[2001 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series|2001]] [[Power Stroke Diesel 200]] ([[O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis|ORP]]) |
| district_type = Township
First_Truck_Win = [[2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series|2005]] [[Quaker Steak and Lube 200]] ([[Lowe's Motor Speedway|Lowe's]]) |
| municipality =
Last_Truck_Win = [[2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series|2008]] [[O'Reilly 200 presented by Valvoline Maxlife|O'Reilly 200]] ([[Bristol Motor Speedway|Bristol]]) |
<!-- *** Locations *** -->
Truck_Wins = 10 |
| location =
Truck_Top_Tens = 30 |
| elevation_imperial =
Truck_Poles = 3 |
| prominence_imperial =
Awards = [[2004 NASCAR Busch Series|2004]] [[Nationwide Series|Busch Series]] [[NASCAR Rookie of the Year|Rookie of the Year]]<br>[[2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series|2005]] [[Sprint Cup Series|NEXTEL Cup]] [[NASCAR Rookie of the Year|Rookie of the Year]] |
| lat_d = 39
Updated_On = [[October 10]], [[2008]] |}}
| lat_m = 56
| lat_s = 39
| lat_NS = N
| long_d = 89
| long_m = 56
| long_s = 15
| long_EW = W
| coordinates_no_title = 1
| highest =
| highest_location =
| highest_region =
| highest_state =
| highest_elevation_imperial =
| highest_lat_d =
| highest_lat_m =
| highest_lat_s =
| highest_lat_NS =
| highest_long_d =
| highest_long_m =
| highest_long_s =
| highest_long_EW =
| lowest =
| lowest_location =
| lowest_region =
| lowest_state =
| lowest_elevation_imperial =
| lowest_lat_d =
| lowest_lat_m =
| lowest_lat_s =
| lowest_lat_NS =
| lowest_long_d =
| lowest_long_m =
| lowest_long_s =
| lowest_long_EW =
<!-- *** Dimensions *** -->
| length_imperial =
| length_orientation =
| area_imperial = 0.5
| area_land_imperial = 0.5
| area_water_imperial =
| area_urban_imperial =
| area_metro_imperial =
<!-- *** Population *** -->
| population = 638
| population_date = 2000
| population_urban =
| population_metro =
| population_density =
| population_density_imperial = 1207.4
| population_density_urban_imperial =
| population_density_metro_imperial =
<!-- *** History & management *** -->
| established =
| date =
| government =
| government_location =
| government_region =
| government_state =
| government_elevation_imperial =
| government_lat_d =
| government_lat_m =
| government_lat_s =
| government_lat_NS =
| government_long_d =
| government_long_m =
| government_long_s =
| government_long_EW =
| mayor =
| leader =
| leader_type = Village president
<!-- *** Codes *** -->
| timezone = [[North American Central Time Zone|CST]]
| utc_offset = -6
| timezone_DST = [[North American Central Time Zone|CDT]]
| utc_offset_DST = -5
| postal_code = 62688
| area_code = [[Area_code_XXX#United_States|217]]<!-- This can be replaced with [[Area code XXX|XXX]] -->
| code =
<!-- *** UNESCO etc. *** -->
| whs_name =
| whs_year =
| whs_number =
| whs_region =
| whs_criteria =
| iucn_category =
<!-- *** Maps *** -->
| map = Illinois - outline map.svg
<!-- Illinois Locator Map.PNG -->
| map_caption = Location of Tallula within Illinois
| map_background = Illinois - background map.png
| map_locator = Illinois2
<!-- *** Websites *** -->
| commons = Tallula, Illinois
| statistics =
| website =
<!-- *** Footnotes *** -->
| footnotes =
}}
'''Tallula''' is a village in [[Menard County, Illinois|Menard County]], [[Illinois]], [[United States]]. The population was 638 at the 2000 census. It is part of the [[Springfield, Illinois]] [[Springfield, Illinois metropolitan area|Metropolitan Statistical Area]].


'''Kyle Thomas Busch''' (born [[May 2]], [[1985]] in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]]) nicknamed "Rowdy Busch," "Wild Thing," or "Shrub" is an [[United States of America|American]] [[auto racing|race car driver]]. He drives the #18 [[M&M's]] [[Toyota]] [[Toyota Camry|Camry]] for [[Joe Gibbs Racing]] in the [[Sprint Cup Series]], the #18 and #20 [[Z-Line Designs]] [[Toyota]] [[Toyota Camry|Camry]] ([[Joe Gibbs Racing]]), the #92 [[Zippo|Zippo Blu]] [[Toyota]] [[Toyota Camry|Camry]] ([[D'Hondt Motorsports]]) in the [[Nationwide Series]], and the #51 [[Miccosukee|Miccosukee Resorts]] / [[NOS (drink)|NOS Energy Drink]] [[Toyota]] [[Toyota Tundra|Tundra]] for [[Billy Ballew Motorsports]] in the [[Craftsman Truck Series]]. He currently has the record for most wins in a season between the three series with 19 wins.
==Geography==
Tallula is located at {{coor dms|39|56|39|N|89|56|15|W|city}} (39.944197, -89.937610).{{GR|1}}


Busch started his NASCAR career at age 16, year 2001 in the Craftsman Truck Series, but was removed from racing due to a new rule set by NASCAR disallowing anyone persons under the age of 18 to compete in NASCAR's top divisions.
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the village has a total area of 0.5&nbsp;[[square mile]]s (1.4&nbsp;[[km²]]), all of it land.


Almost three years after the incident Busch won his first career NASCAR race in dominating fashion on [[May 14]], [[2004]], leading 236 out of 250 laps in the [[2004 NASCAR Busch Series|Busch Series]] (now known as Nationwide) race at [[Richmond International Raceway]]<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=102A0BA4E1F3A0E4&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=Kyle First Career Win}}</ref>, driving for [[Rick Hendrick]]. At the end of the season Busch won the 2004 Busch Series [[NASCAR Rookie of the Year|Rookie of the Year]] with 5 wins, making him the record holder of most races won by a driver in their [[rookie]] season.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2004/08/22/Sports/Busch_dominates_at_Mi.shtml|title=Kyle Busch Most Races Won In Rookie Season}}</ref>
<blockquote>
This town was founded in 1857 by William G. Greene; an associate of Abraham Lincoln. Greene named this town “trickling water” for the abundant springs in the area. Today the railroad is gone, but Tallula retains its place in the county history.
</blockquote>


A year later, Busch won his first career Craftsman Truck Series race on [[May 20]], [[2005]], at [[Lowe's Motor Speedway]]<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/truck/05/20/busch_trucks.ap/index.html|title=Kyle Busch Wins First Truck Race}}</ref>
http://www.visitmenardcounty.com/history.asp
, driving for [[Billy Ballew Motorsports]]. Later in the year, he won his first career NASCAR Nextel Cup race (now known as Sprint Cup) on
[[September 4]], 2005 at [[Auto Club Speedway|Auto Club Speedway (Fontana)]]<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://nascar.about.com/od/races/a/2cali2005.htm|title=Kyle Busch Wins First Career Nextel Cup Race}}</ref> , driving for Rick Hendrick. At the end of the season Busch won the 2005 Nextel Cup [[NASCAR Rookie of the Year|Rookie of the Year]] with 2 wins<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://nascar.about.com/od/nextelcupdrivers/p/kylebusch.htm|title=Kyle Busch Wins Nextel Cup Rookie Of The Year}}</ref>. The earlier win at [[Fontana]] made Kyle Busch eligible to become a part of the 18 NASCAR Triple Threats, a group of drivers who have won a race in NASCAR's top three divisions.


==Demographics==
==Childhood==
Busch’s first driving lessons came at the age of 6 as he cruised the cul-de-sac of his family’s [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] home in a makeshift [[go-kart]]. Although he was too small to reach the throttle, Busch still was able to pick up the basics thanks to father Tom, who controlled the gas pedal as his young son steered the kart.
As of the [[census]]{{GR|2}} of 2000, there were 638 people, 238 households, and 175 families residing in the village. The [[population density]] was 1,207.4 people per square mile (464.8/km²). There were 253 housing units at an average density of 478.8/sq&nbsp;mi (184.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.06% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.16% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], and 0.78% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.63% of the population.


Throughout his childhood, Kyle Busch spent countless hours as an apprentice to his father and older brother [[Kurt Busch]] ([[2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series|2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champion]]) in the family garage learning to build and repair race cars. By the age of 10, he was a full-fledged mechanic and served as [[crew chief]] of his older brother’s dwarf car team.
There were 238 households out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.07.


In 1998, shortly after his 13th birthday, Busch’s driving career officially began, but schoolwork was always made first priority. His parents stressed accountability, so if Busch wanted to race, he was responsible for working on, repairing and paying for his own cars. He learned quickly that carelessness on the track proved costly and sometimes meant not racing the next weekend.
In the village the population was spread out with 28.8% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 101.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.4 males.


From 1999 through 2001, Busch earned more than 65 wins in legends cars as he racked up two track championships at [[Las Vegas Motor Speedway]]’s “Bullring” before moving to [[late model]]s. Winning seemed to come naturally as the youngster captured 10 victories in late model competition at the Bullring in 2001.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.kylebuschfoundation.org/aboutus.html|title = Busch's Childhood}}</ref>
The median income for a household in the village was $38,269, and the median income for a family was $38,864. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $19,750 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the village was $16,088. About 12.6% of families and 18.9% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 30.0% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.


In 2002 Kyle Busch graduated a year early with honors from [[Durango High School (Nevada)|Durango High School]] in Las Vegas, Nevada.
==References==

<references />
==Personal life==

===Kyle Busch Foundation===
The Kyle Busch Foundation is dedicated to providing essential tools for less fortunate children throughout the country. KBF will concentrate its efforts on assisting organizations in fostering a safe environment for children to live, learn and challenge themselves as well as seeing that day to day needs are met. <ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.kylebuschfoundation.org/misson.html|title = KBFoundation Mission Statement}}</ref>
His foundation sponsors his #51 late model which is driven by Alex Haase. Kyle also has personal sponsorship deals in place with [[NOS (drink)|NOS Energy Drink]] and [[Electric Visual]], with both appearing on his late model at one time or another.

== NASCAR career ==
===NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series===
At 16, Busch competed in the [[NASCAR]] [[Craftsman Truck Series]] for [[Roush Racing]] as a replacement after the team's two drivers were released midway in the 2001 season, and earned two top-10 finishes in six starts what was scheduled to be a full-season campaign for 2002. (In 2000, NASCAR rules changed to permit a driver to make up to seven starts -- up from five -- in a season before becoming a full-time driver for rookie status.)

Busch was the fastest in practice for a 2001 Craftsman Truck Series race at [[California Speedway]] in Fontana, CA, when he was ejected from the track by [[Champ Car|CART]] officials because the [[American Racing Wheels 200]] was part of a CART weekend featuring the [[Marlboro (cigarette)|Marlboro]] 500 CART FedEx Championship Series event. <ref>{{citeweb|url=http://nascarfans.wetpaint.com/page/Kyle+Busch?t=anon|title = Busch: Kicked Out Of 2001 American Racing Wheels 200 at Fontana}}</ref> Marlboro threw Busch out of the garage because of an interpretation of the [[Master Settlement Agreement]] of 1998, prohibiting persons under 18 years of age in participating in events sponsored by tobacco companies. (The MSA also resulted in the benching in 2006 of 17-year old [[Grand American Road Racing Association|Grand-Am]] [[Krohn Racing]] driver [[Colin Braun]] for three sportscar races held in conjunction with the Indy Racing League because Marlboro sponsored both of [[Penske Racing]]'s [[Indy Racing League]] efforts. In 2008, four full-time USAR Hooters Pro Cup drivers were banned from participating in the Sears Auto Center 150 at the [[Milwaukee Mile]] because they were under 18, and the race was held in conjunction with an IndyCar race with Marlboro sponsorship on the Penske cars.)

Six weeks after the incident, NASCAR imposed a minimum age of 18 years starting in 2002 to prevent future incidents from happening again, because [[Winston (cigarette)|Winston]] was the premier series sponsor. (For 2007, the rule has changed; Camping World (East and West) Series and Whelen Modified (North and South) Tours will now permit drivers as young as 16 to enter the races. NASCAR will also not allow an IRL race to be held in conjunction with either tour because of age restrictions.)

When the age requirements were put in place, Busch switched from NASCAR to the [[American Speed Association]] (ASA) series, a Midwest based company that also aided in his success; in the 2002 season, Busch finished eighth in the championship points for the ASA series.

====2004====
Busch ran 1 race in 2004 for [[Morgan-Dollar Motorsports]] in their #47 [[Acxiom]] [[Chevrolet Silverado]].

====2005====
Busch returned to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2005 for a limited number of races in [[Billy Ballew Motorsports]]'s Chevrolet's, winning at [[Lowe's Motor Speedway]], [[Dover International Speedway]], and the fall race in [[Atlanta Motor Speedway]], all 200-mile races. Busch became the youngest driver to win a Truck Series race, at 20 years 19 days.

====2006====
Busch repeated his Lowe's victory in 2006 in a truck painted to resemble the [[Rowdy Burns]] car from [[Days of Thunder]], in a tribute to [[Bobby Hamilton]] (who was the stunt driver for the character), who was in the midst of a cancer battle which would later take his life.

====2007====
Busch won two more truck races in the #51 Billy Ballew Motorsports truck towards the end of the 2007 season, at Atlanta on [[October 27]] and at [[Phoenix International Raceway|Phoenix]] on [[November 9]]. In 2008, he will drive the #51 Billy Ballew Motorsports truck with [[David Stremme]] and one other driver.

====2008====
Kyle Busch started the season off with a third place finish in the [[Chevy Silverado 250]] at [[Daytona International Speedway]], and followed it up a week later with a win in the [[San Bernardino County 200]] at the newly named Auto Club Speedway (previously California Speedway) in Fontana, California. Two weeks later at Atlanta, he raced to another win in the [[American Commercial Lines 200]]. Busch acquired his 2nd Craftsman Truck Series pole for the [[North Carolina Education Lottery]] [[North Carolina Education Lottery 200|200]] at [[Lowe's Motor Speedway]].<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/craftsmantruckseries/Kyle_Busch_speeds_to_truck_series_pole_for_Friday_nights_race.html |title = KB: Craftsman Truck Pole Sitter Carolina Education Lottery 200}}</ref> His 3rd win of the season was at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="8" style="background:gold; color:black" | '''<center>2008 Season - Races 1 - 25</center>'''
|-
! #
! Date
! Race
! Track
! Start
! Finish
! Rank
! Behind
|-
| 1
| 02/16/2008
| Chevy Silverado 250
| Daytona International Speedway
| <center>21st</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 2
| 02/23/2008
| San Bernardino County 200
| Auto Club Speedway
| <center>20th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 3
| 03/07/2008
| American Commercial Lines 200
| Atlanta Motor Speedway
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 4
| 03/29/2008
| Kroger 250
| Martinsville Speedway
| <center>11th</center>
| <center>26th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 5
| 04/25/2008
| O'Reilly Auto Parts 250
| Kansas Speedway
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>5th</center>
| <center>-130</center>
|-
| 6
| 05/16/2008
| North Carolina Education Lottery 200
| Lowe's Motor Speedway
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>8th</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-77</center>
|-
| 7
| 05/24/2008
| Ohio 250
| Mansfield Motorsports Park
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>16th</center>
| <center>-204</center>
|-
| 8
| 05/30/2008
| AAA Insurance 200
| Dover International Speedway
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>27th</center>
| <center>16th</center>
| <center>-242</center>
|-
| 9
| 06/06/2008
| Sam's Town 400
| Texas Motor Speedway
| <center>35th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>13th</center>
| <center>-243</center>
|-
| 10
| 06/14/2008
| Cool City Customs 200
| Michigan International Speedway
| <center>6th</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>13th</center>
| <center>-217</center>
|-
| 11
| 06/20/2008
| Camping World RV Sales 200
| Milwaukee Mile
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>16th</center>
| <center>-412</center>
|-
| 12
| 06/28/2008
| O'Reilly 200
| Memphis Motorsports Park
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>20th</center>
| <center>-537</center>
|-
| 13
| 07/19/2008
| Built Ford Tough 225
| Kentucky Speedway
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>6th</center>
| <center>16th</center>
| <center>-521</center>
|-
| 14
| 07/25/2008
| Power Stroke Diesel 200
| O'Reilly Raceway Park
| <center>12th</center>
| <center>8th</center>
| <center>16th</center>
| <center>-569</center>
|-
| 15
| 08/09/2008
| Toyota Tundra 200
| Nashville Superspeedway
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>20th</center>
| <center>-759</center>
|-
| 16
| 08/20/2008
| O'Reilly 200
| Bristol Motor Speedway
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>17th</center>
| <center>-729</center>
|-
| 17
| 09/06/2008
| Camping World 200
| Gateway International Raceway
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>19th</center>
| <center>-899</center>
|-
| 18
| 09/13/2008
| Camping World RV Rental 200
| New Hampshire Motor Speedway
| <center><font color="blue">4th</font></center>
| <center>6th</center>
| <center>17th</center>
| <center>-924</center>
|-
| 19
| 09/20/2008
| Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350
| Las Vegas Motor Speedway
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>19th</center>
| <center>-1011</center>
|}
*'''Bold''' means the current best starting/finishing position (Kyle Busch has both started and finished in the highest possible positions)
*'''DNA''' means the driver did not attempt the race

===NASCAR Nationwide Series===
[[Image:Kyle Busch Mexico.jpg|right|thumb|Kyle Busch at the [[March 5]], [[2006]] race in Mexico City]]
Upon turning 18, Busch partnered with Hendrick Motorsports to run a set of six NASCAR Busch Series races at selected tracks, running the #87 [[Ditech.com]] [[Chevrolet Monte Carlo]] for [[NEMCO Motorsports]]. During his seat time in that ride, Busch finished a Busch Series career-high second in his first NASCAR [[Busch Series]] race at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in May 2003. He also teamed with Hendrick to run selected [[ARCA RE/MAX Series]] races, where he won races at the [[Kentucky Speedway]] and the [[Nashville Superspeedway]], where he also started from the pole position (his other pole in 2003 was at Pocono). Busch's first full-time season began in 2004, as he competed in the Lowe's car vacated by [[Brian Vickers]], who had moved up to the NEXTEL Cup series. Busch easily clinched [[Rookie of the Year]] honors in the series, and clearly showed his stronghold on the Busch series with the start of the series-he received his first top-10 finish of the season at the second race in Rockingham, his first pole of the season in the fifth race, and claimed his first victory at the Richmond International Raceway at the [[Funai 250]] in May. Busch went on to claim five wins in 2004, finishing second in the overall points to [[Martin Truex, Jr.]] and claiming the Rookie of the Year title. Busch won the [[Carquest Auto Parts 300]] at [[Lowe's Motor Speedway]] in 2005. Busch won the [[Sharpie Mini 300]] at [[Bristol Motor Speedway]] in 2006. 2007 has been an interesting year for Busch. Two wins, the ([[Nicorette 300]] at [[Atlanta Motor Speedway|Altanta]] and [[Sam's Town 300]] at [[Las Vegas Motor Speedway|Las Vegas]]), were in sight before mistakes put him out of contention. On [[July 7]], [[2007]], Busch finally capitalized and won his first ever race at [[Daytona International Speedway|Daytona]] with a win in the [[Winn-Dixie 250]]. He also edged out [[Matt Kenseth]] by .085 seconds to win the [[Yellow Transportation 300]] at [[Kansas Speedway]], and then went on to finish off his NASCAR Busch Series career with Hendrick Motorsports in style, with a dominating victory in his last ride in the #5 car at [[Phoenix International Raceway|Phoenix]] on [[November 10]].

So far in 2008, Busch has accumulated 2 poles at [[Nashville Speedway|Nashville]] and [[Phoenix International Raceway|Phoenix]]. He also has won 6 races so far. These were the [[O'Reilly 300]] at [[Texas Motor Speedway]], the [[Bashas' Supermarkets 200]] at [[Phoenix International Raceway]], the [[Corona México 200]] at [[Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez]], and the [[Carquest Auto Parts 300]] at [[Lowe's Motor Speedway]] [[Dollar General 300]] at [[Chicagoland Speedway]] and [[Kroger 200]] at [[O'Reilly Raceway Park]] .
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Busch 2008 Nationwide car.jpg|right|thumb|Kyle Busch's Nationwide car at Las Vegas in 2008]] -->

Busch collected his 13th career pole for the [[Bashas' Supermarkets 200]] at the [[Phoenix International Raceway]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="8" style="background:gold; color:black" | '''<center>2008 Season - Races 1 - 35</center>'''
|-
! #
! Date
! Race
! Track
! Start
! Finish
! Rank
! Behind
|-
| 1
| 02/16/2008
| Camping World 300
| Daytona International Speedway
| <center>5th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>-10</center>
|-
| 2
| 02/25/2008
| Stater Bros. 300
| Auto Club Speedway
| <center>14th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>-30</center>
|-
| 3
| 03/01/2008
| Sam's Town 300
| Las Vegas Motor Speedway
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>31st</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>-42</center>
|-
| 4
| 03/08/2008
| Nicorette 300
| Atlanta Motor Speedway
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>21st</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>-74</center>
|-
| 5
| 03/15/2008
| Sharpie Mini 300
| Bristol Motor Speedway
| <center>14th</center>
| <center>42nd</center>
| <center>10th</center>
| <center>-183</center>
|-
| 6
| 03/22/2008
| Pepsi 300
| Nashville Speedway
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>16th</center>
| <center>11th</center>
| <center>-184</center>
|-
| 7
| 04/05/2008
| O'Reilly 300
| Texas Motor Speedway
| <center>31st</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>5th</center>
| <center>-159</center>
|-
| 8
| 04/11/2008
| Bashas' Supermarkets 200
| Phoenix International Raceway
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>-106</center>
|-
| 9
| 04/20/2008
| Corona México 200
| Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
| <center>6th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>-66</center>
|-
| 10
| 04/26/2008
| Aaron's 312
| Talladega Superspeedway
| <center>8th</center>
| <center>16th</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>-39</center>
|-
| 11
| 05/02/2008
| Lipton TEA 250
| Richmond International Raceway
| <center>25th</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>-12</center>
|-
| 12
| 05/09/2008
| Diamond Hill Plywood 200
| Darlington Raceway
| <center>5th</center>
| <center>32nd</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>-112</center>
|-
| 13
| 05/24/2008
| Carquest Auto Parts 300
| Lowe's Motor Speedway
| <center>6th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>-67</center>
|-
| 14
| 05/31/2008
| Heluva Good! 200
| Dover International Speedway
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>28th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>-121</center>
|-
| 15
| 06/07/2008
| Federated Auto Parts 300
| Nashville Superspeedway
| <center>5th</center>
| <center>20th</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>-188</center>
|-
| 17
| 06/21/2008
| Camping World RV Rental 250
| Milwaukee Mile
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-413</center>
|-
| 18
| 06/28/2008
| Camping World RV Sales 200
| New Hampshire Motor Speedway
| <center>4th</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-386</center>
|-
| 19
| 07/04/2008
| Winn-Dixie 250
| Daytona International Speedway
| <center>20th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-376</center>
|-
| 20
| 07/11/2008
| Dollar General 300
| Chicagoland Speedway
| <center>10th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>5th</center>
| <center>-332</center>
|-
| 21
| 07/19/2008
| Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250
| Gateway International Raceway
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-474</center>
|-
| 22
| 07/26/2008
| Kroger 200
| O'Reilly Raceway Park
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-388</center>
|-
| 23
| 08/02/2008
| NAPA Auto Parts 200
| Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-526</center>
|-
| 24
| 08/09/2008
| Zippo 200
| Watkins Glen International
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-445</center>
|-
| 25
| 08/16/2008
| Carfax 250
| Michigan International Speedway
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-579</center>
|-
| 26
| 08/22/2008
| Food City 250
| Bristol Motor Speedway
| <center>15th</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-613</center>
|-
| 27
| 08/30/2008
| Camping World RV Service 300
| Auto Club Speedway
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-569</center>
|-
| 28
| 09/07/2008
| Emerson Radio 250
| Richmond International Raceway
| <center><font color="blue">15th</font></center>
| <center>10th</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-610</center>
|-
| 29
| 09/20/2008
| Camping World RV Sales 200
| Dover International Speedway
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-549</center>
|-
| 30
| 09/27/2008
| Kansas Lottery 300
| Kansas Speedway
| <center>DNA</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>-656</center>
|-
| 31
| 10/10/2008
| Dollar General 300
| Lowe's Motor Speedway
| <center>16th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>6th</center>
| <center>-621</center>
|}
*'''Bold''' means the current best starting/finishing position (Kyle Busch has both started and finished in the highest possible positions)
*'''DNA''' means the driver did not arrive for the race

===NASCAR Sprint Cup Series===
Busch ran 6 races in 2004 in the #84 [[Carquest]] [[Chevrolet]] for [[Hendrick Motorsports]]. His highest finish was 24th at [[California Speedway]].

After the announcement that long time Hendrick NEXTEL Cup series driver Terry Labonte would be running a limited schedule in 2005 and 2006, Busch was picked to take over the #5 [[Kellogg's]]/[[Carquest]] Auto Parts Chevrolet Monte Carlo for [[Hendrick Motorsports]].

He won his first Cup race at the [[Sony HD 500]] at [[California Speedway]] in [[Fontana, California]] in September 2005, and is the youngest-ever winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, at 20 years, 125 days. He followed that up with another win two months later in November 2005 at [[Phoenix International Raceway]]. Busch clinched the 2005 [[NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Rookie of the Year]] title before the end of the 2005 season.

[[Image:kylebusch5kelloggschevy.JPG|thumb|left|275px|Kyle Busch speeds out of the garage at Phoenix]]

==== 2006 ====
A victory in the [[Lenox Industrial Tools 300]] at [[New Hampshire International Speedway]] led to a stronger chance of qualifying for the Chase for the Cup during the last race before the 2006 Chase at [[Richmond International Raceway]], in the [[Chevy Rock & Roll 400]], where he finished second after leading the most laps. He entered the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup fourth in Cup points.

Busch started mid-pack, by mid-pack that means he started in the middle of the 43 car field, in the first race of the Chase at the [[New Hampshire International Speedway]] but got caught up in an incident on lap four when he made contact with #66 [[Best Buy]] Chevrolet of [[Jeff Green (NASCAR)|Jeff Green]], and knocked the front suspension out of line, eventually spinning out and wrecking the car. Busch followed up the next week at [[Dover International Speedway]] with an initially strong run before an engine failure took him out of the race. Busch then went to the [[Kansas Speedway]] and led several laps before being caught for speeding on pit road and finished in the bottom half of the top-ten.

Busch finished the season in tenth place in the 2006 [[NASCAR]] [[NEXTEL Cup Series]] standings, 448 points behind champion [[Jimmie Johnson]]. His winnings for the 2006 season totaled $5,537,337. Busch is currently the youngest driver to make the NASCAR NEXTEL Chase for the Cup. He is also the youngest pole sitter in NEXTEL Cup history. <ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.timken.com/en-us/solutions/automotive/motorsports/driverprofiles/Pages/busch.aspx |title = KB: Youngest Pole Sitter In NEXTEL Cup History}}</ref>

==== 2007 ====
With his milestone win at the [[Food City 500]] at [[Bristol Motor Speedway]], on [[March 25]], [[2007]], Busch became the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver to win in NASCAR's [[Car of Tomorrow]]. He also scored [[Hendrick Motorsports]] their 200th NASCAR win (in all series), and also scored [[Chevrolet]]'s 600th NASCAR victory, the first by the [[Chevrolet Impala]] since [[Wendell Scott]]'s historic 1963 win in Jacksonville, Florida.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/03/25/kybusch.jgordon.jburton.bristol.ap/1.html|title = Busch wins first COT race by beating Burton, Gordon on Nascar.com}}</ref> At the Aaron's 312 Busch Race at Talladega, Busch went on a wild ride down the backstretch when he got turned into teammate Casey Mears' car by Tony Stewart, which was similar to the bump Brian Vickers gave to Jimmie Johnson in the 2006 UAW-Ford 500. The car spun towards the outside wall and flipped onto its roof. The car then slid down the track and hit the turn 3 grass, flipping side over side. The car flipped a total of seven times, but Busch walked away unscathed. In the [[Nextel All-Star Challenge]] at the [[Lowe's Motor Speedway]], he and older brother [[Kurt Busch]] got together, knocking them both out of the race.

==== Departure from Hendrick ====
On [[June 13]], [[2007]], Busch announced his plans to leave Hendrick Motorsports after the [[2007 in NASCAR Nextel Cup|2007 season]]. The two sides had been working on a contract extension but eventually agreed mutually to part ways.<ref>[http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/06/11/scene_daily857.html Busch announces plans to leave Hendrick<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> It was announced the same day that [[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]] would be replacing Kyle Busch at Hendrick Motorsports. However, days later Kyle Busch stated that he had no idea he was going to be released.<ref>[http://www.gastongazette.com/sports/busch_5762 ___article.html/hendrick_races.html Sports: Notebook: Busch denies he wants to leave Hendrick | busch, hendrick, races : Gaston Gazette<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. It was announced on [[August 14]], [[2007]], that Busch had chosen [[Joe Gibbs Racing]] for his team in the [[2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series|2008]] season. He replaced [[J.J. Yeley]] in the #18 [[Toyota Camry]].

==== 2008 ====
[[Image:On top of Sprint FanZone Garage area.jpg|thumb|2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Car]]
Kyle Busch drives the number 18 M&M's Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch's season started off with a great running in the 50th Annual [[Daytona 500]] before finishing 4th. He led the most laps (86). He followed that with another 4th place finish in the [[Auto Club 500]]. As a result, he took the lead in the points standings for the first time in his career.

Kyle Busch won the pole for the [[UAW-Dodge 400]] at the [[Las Vegas Motor Speedway]]. The pole was Busch's 3rd pole of his career.
Kyle Busch led 173 of the 325 laps and won the [[Kobalt Tools 500]] at the [[Atlanta Motor Speedway]]. It was the 5th career win for Busch and the 1st for [[Toyota]].

Kyle Busch had a promising run in the [[Goody's Cool Orange 500]] at [[Martinsville Speedway]], but finished 38th due to a broken transmission, and the poor finish dropped him to 5th in points, 84 points out of the points lead.

He turned his fortunes around with a strong run in the [[Samsung 500]] at [[Texas Motor Speedway]]. He ran up front the whole race and finished the race third.

Three weeks later Busch won his first restrictor plate race by taking the checkered flag at the [[Aaron's 499]] at [[Talladega Superspeedway]].

A week later at [[Richmond International Raceway]] in the [[Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400|Dan Lowry 400]], Kyle Busch was driving the #18 Pedigree Toyota racing for the lead when he collided into [[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]], who hadn't been in victory lane since 2006, with four laps to go. This allowed [[Clint Bowyer]] to slip by for the lead (and eventually, the win) with Busch finishing second. Fans were very displeased with the incident when Busch clipped Earnhardt, though Earnhardt told reporters "rubbin's racin,'" a term used by those who do not look down on the amount of contact in the sport. The incident later lead for him to be booed at Driver Introductions by the unforgiving "Junior Nation". Earlier that day, Busch announced the "Kyle's Miles" program, inviting consumers to go to www.dogsrule.com.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://news.carjunky.com/kyle_s-miles-nascar-fans--dog-adoption-cdh188.shtml|title = Kyle Busch announces Kyle's Miles}}</ref> Kyle's Miles is a team up with [[Pedigree Petfoods|Pedigree]] to help dogs in shelters and breed rescue organizations.

Busch rebounded the following week and became the youngest driver to win a race at [[Darlington Speedway]]. He led 169 laps in route to his third 2008 victory.

Following the 24th place finish at the [[NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race]] (a non-points race) Busch qualified 1st for the [[Coca-Cola 600]], getting the 4th pole position of his Sprint Cup career. He again had a dominant car in the race, but a battery problem considerably slowed his pace later in the event. His team replaced the failing battery nearing the end, and Busch rallied back to lead the race, eventually settling for a third place finish.

On June 1, Kyle Busch won the [[Best Buy 400]] at [[Dover International Speedway]], his 8th career Nascar Sprint Cup win, and his 4th of the season.

Just a couple weeks after Kyle Busch's fourth cup win of the season, he won another on June 22nd in Sonoma, his first win and best career finish on a road course in the Sprint Cup Series.

On July 5, Kyle Busch won the [[Coke Zero 400]] at [[Daytona International Speedway]] after a last lap caution ended the race. This was his 10th career victory, and 6th of the 2008 season. A week later at [[Chicagoland Speedway]], he recorded his 11th career win, and 7th of the season in the [[LifeLock.com 400]]. After two poor races in a row, he won his 8th win of the season and 12th of his career at the [[Centurion Boats at the Glen]] at [[Watkins Glen International]]. Sweeping both road courses races of the season in the process.

On August 24 at [[Bristol Motor Speedway]], Carl Edwards tapped Busch's rear bumper on lap 470/500 to take the lead Busch had owned for most of the race. After the race, Busch pulled alongside to bump and smash into Edwards repeatedly, to "let him know I didn't appreciate the way he pasted me." <ref>{{citeweb|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?id=3550558|title = Edwards brings Bristol crowd to its feet with postrace spinout of Busch}}</ref> Edwards responded by spinning out Busch. Busch was called to the hauler after the incident. The following week, Nascar announced that both Edwards and Busch were being placed on probation for their after track antics.<ref>Express (Washington Post), August 28, 2008, p. 16.</ref>




{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="8" style="background:gold; color:black" | '''<center>2008 PreSeason Races</center>'''
|-
! #
! Date
! Race
! Track
! Start
! Finish
! Rank
! Behind
|-
|
| 02/14/2008
| Gatorade Duel - Race 2
| Daytona International Speedway
| <center>20th</center>
| <center>11th</center>
| <center>-</center>
| <center>-</center>
|-
! colspan="8" style="background:gold; color:black" | '''<center>2008 Regular Season - Races 1 - 26</center>'''
|-
! #
! Date
! Race
! Track
! Start
! Finish
! Rank
! Behind
|-
| 1
| 02/17/2008
| Daytona 500
| Daytona International Speedway
| <center>24th</center>
| <center>4th</center>
| <center>4th</center>
| <center>-15</center>
|-
| 2
| 02/24/2008
| Auto Club 500
| Auto Club Speedway
| <center><font color="red">22nd</font></center>
| <center>4th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 3
| 03/02/2008
| UAW-Dodge 400
| Las Vegas Motor Speedway
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>11th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0*</center>
|-
| 4
| 03/09/2008
| Kobalt Tools 500
| Atlanta Motor Speedway
| <center>6th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 5
| 03/16/2008
| Food City 500
| Bristol Motor Speedway
| <center><font color="red">22nd</font></center>
| <center>19th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 6
| 03/30/2008
| Goody's Cool Orange 500
| Martinsville Speedway
| <center>8th</center>
| <center>38th</center>
| <center>5th</center>
| <center>-84</center>
|-
| 7
| 04/06/2008
| Samsung 500
| Texas Motor Speedway
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>-64</center>
|-
| 8
| 04/12/2008
| Subway Fresh Fit 500
| Phoenix International Raceway
| <center>6th</center>
| <center>10th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>-80</center>
|-
| 9
| 04/27/2008
| Aaron's 499
| Talladega Superspeedway
| <center>5th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>-22</center>
|-
| 10
| 05/03/2008
| Dan Lowry 400
| Richmond International Raceway
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 11
| 05/10/2008
| Dodge Challenger 500
| Darlington Raceway
| <center>6th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| --
| '''05/17/2008'''
| '''Sprint All-Star Race'''
| '''Lowe's Motor Speedway'''
| '''<center>1st</center>'''
| '''<center>24th</center>'''
| '''<center>-</center>'''
| '''<center>-</center>'''
|-
| 12
| 05/25/2008
| Coca-Cola 600
| Lowe's Motor Speedway
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 13
| 06/01/2008
| Best Buy 400
| Dover International Speedway
| <center>3rd</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 14
| 06/08/2008
| Pocono 500
| Pocono Raceway
| <center>10th**</center>
| <center>43rd</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 15
| 06/15/2008
| LifeLock 400
| Michigan International Speedway
| <center><font color="blue">'''1st'''</font></center>
| <center>13th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 16
| 06/22/2008
| Toyota/Save Mart 350
| Infineon Raceway
| <center>30th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 17
| 06/29/2008
| LENOX Industrial Tools 301
| New Hampshire Motor Speedway
| <center>27th</center>
| <center>25th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 18
| 07/05/2008
| Coke Zero 400
| Daytona International Speedway
| <center>9th</center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 19
| 07/12/2008
| LifeLock.com 400
| Chicagoland Speedway
| <center><font color="blue">'''1st'''</font></center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 20
| 07/27/2008
| Allstate 400 at The Brickyard
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway
| <center>19th</center>
| <center>15th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 21
| 08/03/2008
| Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500
| Pocono Raceway
| <center>27th</center>
| <center>36th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 22
| 08/10/2008
| Centurion Boats at the Glen
| Watkins Glen International
| <center><font color="blue">'''1st'''</font></center>
| <center>'''1st'''</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 23
| 08/17/2008
| 3M Performance 400
| Michigan International Speedway
| <center>11th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|
|-
| 24
| 08/23/2008
| Sharpie 500
| Bristol Speedway
| <center>9th</center>
| <center>2nd</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 25
| 08/31/2008
| Pepsi 500
| Auto Club Speedway
| <center>11th</center>
| <center>7th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 26
| 09/07/2008
| Chevy Rock & Roll 400
| Richmond International Raceway
| <center><font color="blue">'''1st'''</font></center>
| <center>15th</center>
| <center>1st</center>
| <center>0</center>
|-
| 27
| 09/14/2008
| Sylvania 300
| New Hampshire Motor Speedway
| <center><font color="blue">'''1st'''</font></center>
| <center>34th</center>
| <center>8th</center>
| <center>-74</center>
|-
| 28
| 09/21/2008
| Camping World RV 400
| Dover International Speedway presented by AAA
| <center>11th</center>
| <center>43rd</center>
| <center>12th</center>
| <center>-210</center>
|-
| 29
| 09/28/2008
| Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman
| Kansas Speedway
| <center>27th</center>
| <center>28th</center>
| <center>12th</center>
| <center>-311</center>
|-
| 30
| 10/5/2008
| AMP Energy 500
| Talladega Superspeedway
| <center>37th</center>
| <center>15th</center>
| <center>11th</center>
| <center>-331</center>

|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> He was originally in 2nd place, 20 points behind, but after 1st place Carl Edwards was docked 100 driver points during the week for a rules infraction on his car, Busch became the points leader.
<br>
<nowiki>**</nowiki> He was originally to start in the tenth starting position, but wrecked in practice sending him the the rear of the field.
<br>

*'''Bold''' means the current best starting/finishing position (Kyle Busch has both started and finished in the highest possible positions)

*<font color="red">Red</font> means the starting position based on 2007 owner points.

*<font color="blue">Blue</font> means the starting position based on 2008 owner points at the time.

[http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/driver?statsId=947&categoryId=168 Kyle Busch- 2008 Sprint Cup Record]

== Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Statistics ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year || Races || Wins || Poles || Top 5 || Top 10 || DNF || Finish || Start || Winnings || Season Rank || Team(s)
|-
||2004 ||6 ||0 ||0 ||0 ||0 ||4 ||35.2 ||27.2 ||$394,489 ||50th || [[Hendrick Motorsports]]
|-
||2005 ||36 ||2 ||1 ||9 ||13 ||8 ||21.0 ||18.6 ||$4,185,239 ||20th || [[Hendrick Motorsports]]
|-
||2006 ||36 ||1 ||1 ||10 ||18 ||2 ||15.5 ||14.9 ||$4,821,093 ||10th || [[Hendrick Motorsports]]
|-
||2007 ||36 ||1 ||0 ||11 ||20 ||2 ||14.1 ||15.0 ||$4,685,518 ||5th || [[Hendrick Motorsports]]
|-
||2008 ||28 ||8 ||7 ||15 ||17 ||2 ||12.0 ||10.1 ||$5,627,113 ||12th || [[Joe Gibbs Racing]]
|-
| colspan=11 bgcolor=#808080 height="5px" |
|-
|Totals ||142 ||12 ||9 ||45 ||68 ||18 ||19.6 ||17.2 ||$19,713,452 ||
|-
|} (Data as of September 21st, 2008) <ref> [http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/sprint/drivers/947/career;_ylt=AiDwXMUXGBKlvCqjrPIpeg4hHrcF Career Stats] </ref>

==Races Won==
===Nextel/Sprint Cup (12 career wins)===
*2008 (8 wins) [[Kobalt Tools 500]] ([[Atlanta Motor Speedway|Atlanta]]), [[Aaron's 499]], ([[Talladega Superspeedway|Talladega]]), [[Dodge Challenger 500]] ([[Darlington Raceway|Darlington]]), [[Best Buy 400]] ([[Dover International Speedway|Dover]]), [[Toyota/Save Mart 350]] ([[Infineon Raceway|Sonoma]]), [[Coke Zero 400]] ([[Daytona International Speedway|Daytona]]), [[LifeLock.com 400]] ([[Chicagoland Speedway|Chicagoland]]), [[Centurion Boats at the Glen]] ([[Watkins Glen International|Watkins Glen]]).
*2007 (1 win) [[Food City 500]] ([[Bristol Motor Speedway|Bristol]])
*2006 (1 win) [[Lenox Industrial Tools 300]] ([[New Hampshire Motor Speedway|Loudon]])
*2005 (2 wins) [[Sony HD 500]] ([[Auto Club Speedway|Fontana]]), [[Checker Auto Parts 500]] ([[Phoenix International Raceway|Phoenix]])

===Busch/Nationwide Series (20 career wins)===
*2008 (8 wins) [[O'Reilly 300]] ([[Texas Motor Speedway|Fort Worth]]), [[Bashas' Supermarkets 200]] ([[Phoenix International Raceway|Phoenix]]), [[Corona México 200]] ([[Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez|Mexico City]]), [[Carquest Auto Parts 300]] ([[Lowe's Motor Speedway|Charlotte]]), [[Dollar General 300 (Chicagoland)|Dollar General 300]] ([[Chicagoland Speedway|Chicagoland]]), [[Kroger 200 (Busch)|Kroger 200]] ([[O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis|ORP]]), [[Camping World 300 (Fontana)|Camping World RV Service 300]] ([[Auto Club Speedway|Fontana]]), [[RoadLoans.com 200|Camping World RV Sales 200]] ([[Dover International Speedway|Dover]]), [[Dollar General 300]] ([[Lowe's Motor Speedway|Charlotte]])
*2007 (4 wins) [[Winn-Dixie 250]] ([[Daytona International Speedway|Daytona]]), [[Emerson Radio 250]] ([[Richmond International Raceway|Richmond]]), [[Yellow Transportation 300]] ([[Kansas Speedway|Kansas City]]), [[Arizona Travel 200]] ([[Phoenix International Raceway|Phoenix]])
*2006 (1 win) [[Sharpie Mini 300]] ([[Bristol Motor Speedway|Bristol]])
*2005 (1 win) [[Carquest Auto Parts 300]] ([[Lowe's Motor Speedway|Charlotte]])
*2004 (5 wins) [[Funai 250]] ([[Richmond International Raceway|Richmond]]), [[Carquest Auto Parts 300]] ([[Lowe's Motor Speedway|Charlotte]]), [[Meijer 300]] ([[Kentucky Speedway|Sparta]]), [[Kroger 200]] ([[O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis|Indianapolis]]), [[Cabela's 250]] ([[Michigan International Speedway|Brooklyn]])

===Craftsman Truck Series (10 career wins)===
*2008 (3 wins) [[San Bernardino County 200]] ([[Auto Club Speedway|Fontana]]), [[American Commercial Lines 200]] ([[Atlanta Motor Speedway|Atlanta]]), [[O'Reilly 200 presented by Valvoline Maxlife|O'Reilly 200]] ([[Bristol Motor Speedway|Bristol]])
*2007 (2 win) [[Georgia 200|EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200]], ([[Atlanta Motor Speedway|Atlanta]]), [[Casino Arizona 150]] ([[Phoenix International Raceway|Phoenix]])
*2006 (1 win) [[North Carolina Education Lottery 200|Quaker Steak & Lube 200]] ([[Lowe's Motor Speedway|Charlotte]])
*2005 (3 wins) [[North Carolina Education Lottery 200|Quaker Steak & Lube 200]] ([[Lowe's Motor Speedway|Charlotte]]), [[AAA Insurance 200|MBNA RacePoints 200]] ([[Dover International Speedway|Dover]]), [[Georgia 200|EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200]] ([[Atlanta Motor Speedway|Atlanta]])

== Nicknames ==
He is often nicknamed '''Shrub''', since he is the younger brother of NASCAR driver [[Kurt Busch]] and a small bush is called a shrub.<ref>[http://www.sportsline.com/autoracing/story/10224492 Dale Earnhardt Incorporated Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, AUTO RACING,Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports - CBSSports.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He is also most commonly referred to as '''Rowdy Busch''' after [[Rowdy Burns]] in the movie [[Days of Thunder]], as well as '''Little Busch''' after the TV series [[Lil' Bush]]. Recently [[Mike Joy]] coined the nickname '''Wild Thing''' as he is always making daring and bold moves on the track.

== References ==
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.kylebusch.com Kyle Busch's Official Website]
{{Mapit-US-cityscale|39.944197|-89.93761}}
*[http://www.kylebuschfoundation.org/ The Kyle Busch Foundation]
*[http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/kbusch01/bg/index.html Kyle Busch at NASCAR.com]
*[http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/driver?statsId=947 Kyle Busch at FoxSports.com]
*[http://multimedia.foxsports.com/car-racing/nascar/drivers/kyle-busch.htm Kyle Busch Video on FoxSports Video Archive]
*[http://www.snickers.com/racing Kyle Busch Exclusive Videos on Snickers Site]
*[http://www.joegibbsracing.com/current/18cup/18c_prhist.php Official team website at joegibbsracing.com]
*[http://www.mms.com/us/racing/ Kyle Busch M&M Sponsor]


{{start box}}
{{Menard County, Illinois}}
{{succession box |
before= [[Kasey Kahne]] |
title= [[NASCAR Rookie of the Year|NASCAR Raybestos Rookie of the Year]] |
years= [[2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series|2005]]|
after= [[Denny Hamlin]] |
}}
{{end box}}
{{NASCARROTY}}
{{TRIPLE}}
{{JoeGibbsRacing}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Busch, Kyle}}
[[Category:Menard County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Villages in Illinois]]
[[Category:1985 births]]
[[Category:Springfield, Illinois metropolitan area]]
[[Category:American racecar drivers]]
[[Category:American Speed Association drivers]]
[[Category:ARCA drivers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:NASCAR drivers]]
[[Category:NASCAR Rookies of the Year]]
[[Category:People from Las Vegas, Nevada]]


[[ht:Tallula, Ilinwa]]
[[de:Kyle Busch]]
[[nl:Tallula]]
[[fr:Kyle Busch]]
[[pt:Tallula]]
[[no:Kyle Busch]]
[[vo:Tallula]]
[[pt:Kyle Busch]]
[[simple:Kyle Busch]]
[[sv:Kyle Busch]]
[[tl:Kyle Busch]]

Revision as of 05:45, 11 October 2008

Kyle Busch
Awards2004 Busch Series Rookie of the Year
2005 NEXTEL Cup Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
Car no., team
  1. 18 - Joe Gibbs Racing
2007 position5th
Best finish5th - 2007 (Nextel Cup)
First race2004 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 (Las Vegas)
First win2005 Sony HD 500 (California)
Last win2008 Centurion Boats at the Glen (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles
12 68 7
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
Car no., team
  1. 18 - Joe Gibbs Racing
    #32,#10 - Braun Racing
First race2003 Carquest Auto Parts 300 (Charlotte)
First win2004 Funai 250 (Richmond)
Last win2008 Dollar General 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
20 73 14
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
Truck no., team
  1. 51 - Billy Ballew Motorsports
First race2001 Power Stroke Diesel 200 (ORP)
First win2005 Quaker Steak and Lube 200 (Lowe's)
Last win2008 O'Reilly 200 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles
10 30 3

Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985 in Las Vegas, Nevada) nicknamed "Rowdy Busch," "Wild Thing," or "Shrub" is an American race car driver. He drives the #18 M&M's Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, the #18 and #20 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry (Joe Gibbs Racing), the #92 Zippo Blu Toyota Camry (D'Hondt Motorsports) in the Nationwide Series, and the #51 Miccosukee Resorts / NOS Energy Drink Toyota Tundra for Billy Ballew Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series. He currently has the record for most wins in a season between the three series with 19 wins.

Busch started his NASCAR career at age 16, year 2001 in the Craftsman Truck Series, but was removed from racing due to a new rule set by NASCAR disallowing anyone persons under the age of 18 to compete in NASCAR's top divisions.

Almost three years after the incident Busch won his first career NASCAR race in dominating fashion on May 14, 2004, leading 236 out of 250 laps in the Busch Series (now known as Nationwide) race at Richmond International Raceway[1], driving for Rick Hendrick. At the end of the season Busch won the 2004 Busch Series Rookie of the Year with 5 wins, making him the record holder of most races won by a driver in their rookie season.[2]

A year later, Busch won his first career Craftsman Truck Series race on May 20, 2005, at Lowe's Motor Speedway[3] , driving for Billy Ballew Motorsports. Later in the year, he won his first career NASCAR Nextel Cup race (now known as Sprint Cup) on September 4, 2005 at Auto Club Speedway (Fontana)[4] , driving for Rick Hendrick. At the end of the season Busch won the 2005 Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year with 2 wins[5]. The earlier win at Fontana made Kyle Busch eligible to become a part of the 18 NASCAR Triple Threats, a group of drivers who have won a race in NASCAR's top three divisions.

Childhood

Busch’s first driving lessons came at the age of 6 as he cruised the cul-de-sac of his family’s Las Vegas home in a makeshift go-kart. Although he was too small to reach the throttle, Busch still was able to pick up the basics thanks to father Tom, who controlled the gas pedal as his young son steered the kart.

Throughout his childhood, Kyle Busch spent countless hours as an apprentice to his father and older brother Kurt Busch (2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champion) in the family garage learning to build and repair race cars. By the age of 10, he was a full-fledged mechanic and served as crew chief of his older brother’s dwarf car team.

In 1998, shortly after his 13th birthday, Busch’s driving career officially began, but schoolwork was always made first priority. His parents stressed accountability, so if Busch wanted to race, he was responsible for working on, repairing and paying for his own cars. He learned quickly that carelessness on the track proved costly and sometimes meant not racing the next weekend.

From 1999 through 2001, Busch earned more than 65 wins in legends cars as he racked up two track championships at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s “Bullring” before moving to late models. Winning seemed to come naturally as the youngster captured 10 victories in late model competition at the Bullring in 2001.[6]

In 2002 Kyle Busch graduated a year early with honors from Durango High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Personal life

Kyle Busch Foundation

The Kyle Busch Foundation is dedicated to providing essential tools for less fortunate children throughout the country. KBF will concentrate its efforts on assisting organizations in fostering a safe environment for children to live, learn and challenge themselves as well as seeing that day to day needs are met. [7] His foundation sponsors his #51 late model which is driven by Alex Haase. Kyle also has personal sponsorship deals in place with NOS Energy Drink and Electric Visual, with both appearing on his late model at one time or another.

NASCAR career

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

At 16, Busch competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Roush Racing as a replacement after the team's two drivers were released midway in the 2001 season, and earned two top-10 finishes in six starts what was scheduled to be a full-season campaign for 2002. (In 2000, NASCAR rules changed to permit a driver to make up to seven starts -- up from five -- in a season before becoming a full-time driver for rookie status.)

Busch was the fastest in practice for a 2001 Craftsman Truck Series race at California Speedway in Fontana, CA, when he was ejected from the track by CART officials because the American Racing Wheels 200 was part of a CART weekend featuring the Marlboro 500 CART FedEx Championship Series event. [8] Marlboro threw Busch out of the garage because of an interpretation of the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, prohibiting persons under 18 years of age in participating in events sponsored by tobacco companies. (The MSA also resulted in the benching in 2006 of 17-year old Grand-Am Krohn Racing driver Colin Braun for three sportscar races held in conjunction with the Indy Racing League because Marlboro sponsored both of Penske Racing's Indy Racing League efforts. In 2008, four full-time USAR Hooters Pro Cup drivers were banned from participating in the Sears Auto Center 150 at the Milwaukee Mile because they were under 18, and the race was held in conjunction with an IndyCar race with Marlboro sponsorship on the Penske cars.)

Six weeks after the incident, NASCAR imposed a minimum age of 18 years starting in 2002 to prevent future incidents from happening again, because Winston was the premier series sponsor. (For 2007, the rule has changed; Camping World (East and West) Series and Whelen Modified (North and South) Tours will now permit drivers as young as 16 to enter the races. NASCAR will also not allow an IRL race to be held in conjunction with either tour because of age restrictions.)

When the age requirements were put in place, Busch switched from NASCAR to the American Speed Association (ASA) series, a Midwest based company that also aided in his success; in the 2002 season, Busch finished eighth in the championship points for the ASA series.

2004

Busch ran 1 race in 2004 for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in their #47 Acxiom Chevrolet Silverado.

2005

Busch returned to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2005 for a limited number of races in Billy Ballew Motorsports's Chevrolet's, winning at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, and the fall race in Atlanta Motor Speedway, all 200-mile races. Busch became the youngest driver to win a Truck Series race, at 20 years 19 days.

2006

Busch repeated his Lowe's victory in 2006 in a truck painted to resemble the Rowdy Burns car from Days of Thunder, in a tribute to Bobby Hamilton (who was the stunt driver for the character), who was in the midst of a cancer battle which would later take his life.

2007

Busch won two more truck races in the #51 Billy Ballew Motorsports truck towards the end of the 2007 season, at Atlanta on October 27 and at Phoenix on November 9. In 2008, he will drive the #51 Billy Ballew Motorsports truck with David Stremme and one other driver.

2008

Kyle Busch started the season off with a third place finish in the Chevy Silverado 250 at Daytona International Speedway, and followed it up a week later with a win in the San Bernardino County 200 at the newly named Auto Club Speedway (previously California Speedway) in Fontana, California. Two weeks later at Atlanta, he raced to another win in the American Commercial Lines 200. Busch acquired his 2nd Craftsman Truck Series pole for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.[9] His 3rd win of the season was at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008.

2008 Season - Races 1 - 25
# Date Race Track Start Finish Rank Behind
1 02/16/2008 Chevy Silverado 250 Daytona International Speedway
21st
3rd
3rd
0
2 02/23/2008 San Bernardino County 200 Auto Club Speedway
20th
1st
1st
0
3 03/07/2008 American Commercial Lines 200 Atlanta Motor Speedway
3rd
1st
1st
0
4 03/29/2008 Kroger 250 Martinsville Speedway
11th
26th
1st
0
5 04/25/2008 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 Kansas Speedway
DNA
-
5th
-130
6 05/16/2008 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Lowe's Motor Speedway
1st
8th
7th
-77
7 05/24/2008 Ohio 250 Mansfield Motorsports Park
DNA
-
16th
-204
8 05/30/2008 AAA Insurance 200 Dover International Speedway
3rd
27th
16th
-242
9 06/06/2008 Sam's Town 400 Texas Motor Speedway
35th
2nd
13th
-243
10 06/14/2008 Cool City Customs 200 Michigan International Speedway
6th
7th
13th
-217
11 06/20/2008 Camping World RV Sales 200 Milwaukee Mile
DNA
-
16th
-412
12 06/28/2008 O'Reilly 200 Memphis Motorsports Park
DNA
-
20th
-537
13 07/19/2008 Built Ford Tough 225 Kentucky Speedway
2nd
6th
16th
-521
14 07/25/2008 Power Stroke Diesel 200 O'Reilly Raceway Park
12th
8th
16th
-569
15 08/09/2008 Toyota Tundra 200 Nashville Superspeedway
DNA
-
20th
-759
16 08/20/2008 O'Reilly 200 Bristol Motor Speedway
3rd
1st
17th
-729
17 09/06/2008 Camping World 200 Gateway International Raceway
DNA
-
19th
-899
18 09/13/2008 Camping World RV Rental 200 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
4th
6th
17th
-924
19 09/20/2008 Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
DNA
-
19th
-1011
  • Bold means the current best starting/finishing position (Kyle Busch has both started and finished in the highest possible positions)
  • DNA means the driver did not attempt the race

NASCAR Nationwide Series

File:Kyle Busch Mexico.jpg
Kyle Busch at the March 5, 2006 race in Mexico City

Upon turning 18, Busch partnered with Hendrick Motorsports to run a set of six NASCAR Busch Series races at selected tracks, running the #87 Ditech.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo for NEMCO Motorsports. During his seat time in that ride, Busch finished a Busch Series career-high second in his first NASCAR Busch Series race at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in May 2003. He also teamed with Hendrick to run selected ARCA RE/MAX Series races, where he won races at the Kentucky Speedway and the Nashville Superspeedway, where he also started from the pole position (his other pole in 2003 was at Pocono). Busch's first full-time season began in 2004, as he competed in the Lowe's car vacated by Brian Vickers, who had moved up to the NEXTEL Cup series. Busch easily clinched Rookie of the Year honors in the series, and clearly showed his stronghold on the Busch series with the start of the series-he received his first top-10 finish of the season at the second race in Rockingham, his first pole of the season in the fifth race, and claimed his first victory at the Richmond International Raceway at the Funai 250 in May. Busch went on to claim five wins in 2004, finishing second in the overall points to Martin Truex, Jr. and claiming the Rookie of the Year title. Busch won the Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 2005. Busch won the Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2006. 2007 has been an interesting year for Busch. Two wins, the (Nicorette 300 at Altanta and Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas), were in sight before mistakes put him out of contention. On July 7, 2007, Busch finally capitalized and won his first ever race at Daytona with a win in the Winn-Dixie 250. He also edged out Matt Kenseth by .085 seconds to win the Yellow Transportation 300 at Kansas Speedway, and then went on to finish off his NASCAR Busch Series career with Hendrick Motorsports in style, with a dominating victory in his last ride in the #5 car at Phoenix on November 10.

So far in 2008, Busch has accumulated 2 poles at Nashville and Phoenix. He also has won 6 races so far. These were the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, the Corona México 200 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, and the Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway and Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park .


Busch collected his 13th career pole for the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at the Phoenix International Raceway.

2008 Season - Races 1 - 35
# Date Race Track Start Finish Rank Behind
1 02/16/2008 Camping World 300 Daytona International Speedway
5th
2nd
2nd
-10
2 02/25/2008 Stater Bros. 300 Auto Club Speedway
14th
2nd
2nd
-30
3 03/01/2008 Sam's Town 300 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
3rd
31st
2nd
-42
4 03/08/2008 Nicorette 300 Atlanta Motor Speedway
2nd
21st
3rd
-74
5 03/15/2008 Sharpie Mini 300 Bristol Motor Speedway
14th
42nd
10th
-183
6 03/22/2008 Pepsi 300 Nashville Speedway
1st
16th
11th
-184
7 04/05/2008 O'Reilly 300 Texas Motor Speedway
31st
1st
5th
-159
8 04/11/2008 Bashas' Supermarkets 200 Phoenix International Raceway
1st
1st
3rd
-106
9 04/20/2008 Corona México 200 Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
6th
1st
3rd
-66
10 04/26/2008 Aaron's 312 Talladega Superspeedway
8th
16th
3rd
-39
11 05/02/2008 Lipton TEA 250 Richmond International Raceway
25th
3rd
3rd
-12
12 05/09/2008 Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Darlington Raceway
5th
32nd
2nd
-112
13 05/24/2008 Carquest Auto Parts 300 Lowe's Motor Speedway
6th
1st
2nd
-67
14 05/31/2008 Heluva Good! 200 Dover International Speedway
3rd
28th
2nd
-121
15 06/07/2008 Federated Auto Parts 300 Nashville Superspeedway
5th
20th
3rd
-188
17 06/21/2008 Camping World RV Rental 250 Milwaukee Mile
DNA
-
7th
-413
18 06/28/2008 Camping World RV Sales 200 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
4th
3rd
7th
-386
19 07/04/2008 Winn-Dixie 250 Daytona International Speedway
20th
2nd
7th
-376
20 07/11/2008 Dollar General 300 Chicagoland Speedway
10th
1st
5th
-332
21 07/19/2008 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Gateway International Raceway
DNA
-
7th
-474
22 07/26/2008 Kroger 200 O'Reilly Raceway Park
2nd
1st
7th
-388
23 08/02/2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
DNA
-
7th
-526
24 08/09/2008 Zippo 200 Watkins Glen International
7th
2nd
7th
-445
25 08/16/2008 Carfax 250 Michigan International Speedway
DNA
-
7th
-579
26 08/22/2008 Food City 250 Bristol Motor Speedway
15th
7th
7th
-613
27 08/30/2008 Camping World RV Service 300 Auto Club Speedway
1st
1st
7th
-569
28 09/07/2008 Emerson Radio 250 Richmond International Raceway
15th
10th
7th
-610
29 09/20/2008 Camping World RV Sales 200 Dover International Speedway
1st
1st
7th
-549
30 09/27/2008 Kansas Lottery 300 Kansas Speedway
DNA
-
7th
-656
31 10/10/2008 Dollar General 300 Lowe's Motor Speedway
16th
1st
6th
-621
  • Bold means the current best starting/finishing position (Kyle Busch has both started and finished in the highest possible positions)
  • DNA means the driver did not arrive for the race

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Busch ran 6 races in 2004 in the #84 Carquest Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. His highest finish was 24th at California Speedway.

After the announcement that long time Hendrick NEXTEL Cup series driver Terry Labonte would be running a limited schedule in 2005 and 2006, Busch was picked to take over the #5 Kellogg's/Carquest Auto Parts Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Hendrick Motorsports.

He won his first Cup race at the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway in Fontana, California in September 2005, and is the youngest-ever winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, at 20 years, 125 days. He followed that up with another win two months later in November 2005 at Phoenix International Raceway. Busch clinched the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Rookie of the Year title before the end of the 2005 season.

Kyle Busch speeds out of the garage at Phoenix

2006

A victory in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway led to a stronger chance of qualifying for the Chase for the Cup during the last race before the 2006 Chase at Richmond International Raceway, in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, where he finished second after leading the most laps. He entered the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup fourth in Cup points.

Busch started mid-pack, by mid-pack that means he started in the middle of the 43 car field, in the first race of the Chase at the New Hampshire International Speedway but got caught up in an incident on lap four when he made contact with #66 Best Buy Chevrolet of Jeff Green, and knocked the front suspension out of line, eventually spinning out and wrecking the car. Busch followed up the next week at Dover International Speedway with an initially strong run before an engine failure took him out of the race. Busch then went to the Kansas Speedway and led several laps before being caught for speeding on pit road and finished in the bottom half of the top-ten.

Busch finished the season in tenth place in the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series standings, 448 points behind champion Jimmie Johnson. His winnings for the 2006 season totaled $5,537,337. Busch is currently the youngest driver to make the NASCAR NEXTEL Chase for the Cup. He is also the youngest pole sitter in NEXTEL Cup history. [10]

2007

With his milestone win at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, on March 25, 2007, Busch became the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver to win in NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow. He also scored Hendrick Motorsports their 200th NASCAR win (in all series), and also scored Chevrolet's 600th NASCAR victory, the first by the Chevrolet Impala since Wendell Scott's historic 1963 win in Jacksonville, Florida.[11] At the Aaron's 312 Busch Race at Talladega, Busch went on a wild ride down the backstretch when he got turned into teammate Casey Mears' car by Tony Stewart, which was similar to the bump Brian Vickers gave to Jimmie Johnson in the 2006 UAW-Ford 500. The car spun towards the outside wall and flipped onto its roof. The car then slid down the track and hit the turn 3 grass, flipping side over side. The car flipped a total of seven times, but Busch walked away unscathed. In the Nextel All-Star Challenge at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, he and older brother Kurt Busch got together, knocking them both out of the race.

Departure from Hendrick

On June 13, 2007, Busch announced his plans to leave Hendrick Motorsports after the 2007 season. The two sides had been working on a contract extension but eventually agreed mutually to part ways.[12] It was announced the same day that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be replacing Kyle Busch at Hendrick Motorsports. However, days later Kyle Busch stated that he had no idea he was going to be released.[13]. It was announced on August 14, 2007, that Busch had chosen Joe Gibbs Racing for his team in the 2008 season. He replaced J.J. Yeley in the #18 Toyota Camry.

2008

2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Car

Kyle Busch drives the number 18 M&M's Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch's season started off with a great running in the 50th Annual Daytona 500 before finishing 4th. He led the most laps (86). He followed that with another 4th place finish in the Auto Club 500. As a result, he took the lead in the points standings for the first time in his career.

Kyle Busch won the pole for the UAW-Dodge 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The pole was Busch's 3rd pole of his career.

Kyle Busch led 173 of the 325 laps and won the Kobalt Tools 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was the 5th career win for Busch and the 1st for Toyota.

Kyle Busch had a promising run in the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but finished 38th due to a broken transmission, and the poor finish dropped him to 5th in points, 84 points out of the points lead.

He turned his fortunes around with a strong run in the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. He ran up front the whole race and finished the race third.

Three weeks later Busch won his first restrictor plate race by taking the checkered flag at the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

A week later at Richmond International Raceway in the Dan Lowry 400, Kyle Busch was driving the #18 Pedigree Toyota racing for the lead when he collided into Dale Earnhardt Jr., who hadn't been in victory lane since 2006, with four laps to go. This allowed Clint Bowyer to slip by for the lead (and eventually, the win) with Busch finishing second. Fans were very displeased with the incident when Busch clipped Earnhardt, though Earnhardt told reporters "rubbin's racin,'" a term used by those who do not look down on the amount of contact in the sport. The incident later lead for him to be booed at Driver Introductions by the unforgiving "Junior Nation". Earlier that day, Busch announced the "Kyle's Miles" program, inviting consumers to go to www.dogsrule.com.[14] Kyle's Miles is a team up with Pedigree to help dogs in shelters and breed rescue organizations.

Busch rebounded the following week and became the youngest driver to win a race at Darlington Speedway. He led 169 laps in route to his third 2008 victory.

Following the 24th place finish at the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (a non-points race) Busch qualified 1st for the Coca-Cola 600, getting the 4th pole position of his Sprint Cup career. He again had a dominant car in the race, but a battery problem considerably slowed his pace later in the event. His team replaced the failing battery nearing the end, and Busch rallied back to lead the race, eventually settling for a third place finish.

On June 1, Kyle Busch won the Best Buy 400 at Dover International Speedway, his 8th career Nascar Sprint Cup win, and his 4th of the season.

Just a couple weeks after Kyle Busch's fourth cup win of the season, he won another on June 22nd in Sonoma, his first win and best career finish on a road course in the Sprint Cup Series.

On July 5, Kyle Busch won the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway after a last lap caution ended the race. This was his 10th career victory, and 6th of the 2008 season. A week later at Chicagoland Speedway, he recorded his 11th career win, and 7th of the season in the LifeLock.com 400. After two poor races in a row, he won his 8th win of the season and 12th of his career at the Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen International. Sweeping both road courses races of the season in the process.

On August 24 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards tapped Busch's rear bumper on lap 470/500 to take the lead Busch had owned for most of the race. After the race, Busch pulled alongside to bump and smash into Edwards repeatedly, to "let him know I didn't appreciate the way he pasted me." [15] Edwards responded by spinning out Busch. Busch was called to the hauler after the incident. The following week, Nascar announced that both Edwards and Busch were being placed on probation for their after track antics.[16]



2008 PreSeason Races
# Date Race Track Start Finish Rank Behind
02/14/2008 Gatorade Duel - Race 2 Daytona International Speedway
20th
11th
-
-
2008 Regular Season - Races 1 - 26
# Date Race Track Start Finish Rank Behind
1 02/17/2008 Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway
24th
4th
4th
-15
2 02/24/2008 Auto Club 500 Auto Club Speedway
22nd
4th
1st
0
3 03/02/2008 UAW-Dodge 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
1st
11th
1st
0*
4 03/09/2008 Kobalt Tools 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway
6th
1st
1st
0
5 03/16/2008 Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway
22nd
19th
1st
0
6 03/30/2008 Goody's Cool Orange 500 Martinsville Speedway
8th
38th
5th
-84
7 04/06/2008 Samsung 500 Texas Motor Speedway
3rd
3rd
3rd
-64
8 04/12/2008 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Phoenix International Raceway
6th
10th
2nd
-80
9 04/27/2008 Aaron's 499 Talladega Superspeedway
5th
1st
2nd
-22
10 05/03/2008 Dan Lowry 400 Richmond International Raceway
7th
2nd
1st
0
11 05/10/2008 Dodge Challenger 500 Darlington Raceway
6th
1st
1st
0
-- 05/17/2008 Sprint All-Star Race Lowe's Motor Speedway
1st
24th
-
-
12 05/25/2008 Coca-Cola 600 Lowe's Motor Speedway
1st
3rd
1st
0
13 06/01/2008 Best Buy 400 Dover International Speedway
3rd
1st
1st
0
14 06/08/2008 Pocono 500 Pocono Raceway
10th**
43rd
1st
0
15 06/15/2008 LifeLock 400 Michigan International Speedway
1st
13th
1st
0
16 06/22/2008 Toyota/Save Mart 350 Infineon Raceway
30th
1st
1st
0
17 06/29/2008 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
27th
25th
1st
0
18 07/05/2008 Coke Zero 400 Daytona International Speedway
9th
1st
1st
0
19 07/12/2008 LifeLock.com 400 Chicagoland Speedway
1st
1st
1st
0
20 07/27/2008 Allstate 400 at The Brickyard Indianapolis Motor Speedway
19th
15th
1st
0
21 08/03/2008 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 Pocono Raceway
27th
36th
1st
0
22 08/10/2008 Centurion Boats at the Glen Watkins Glen International
1st
1st
1st
0
23 08/17/2008 3M Performance 400 Michigan International Speedway
11th
2nd
1st
0
24 08/23/2008 Sharpie 500 Bristol Speedway
9th
2nd
1st
0
25 08/31/2008 Pepsi 500 Auto Club Speedway
11th
7th
1st
0
26 09/07/2008 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Richmond International Raceway
1st
15th
1st
0
27 09/14/2008 Sylvania 300 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
1st
34th
8th
-74
28 09/21/2008 Camping World RV 400 Dover International Speedway presented by AAA
11th
43rd
12th
-210
29 09/28/2008 Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman Kansas Speedway
27th
28th
12th
-311
30 10/5/2008 AMP Energy 500 Talladega Superspeedway
37th
15th
11th
-331

* He was originally in 2nd place, 20 points behind, but after 1st place Carl Edwards was docked 100 driver points during the week for a rules infraction on his car, Busch became the points leader.
** He was originally to start in the tenth starting position, but wrecked in practice sending him the the rear of the field.

  • Bold means the current best starting/finishing position (Kyle Busch has both started and finished in the highest possible positions)
  • Red means the starting position based on 2007 owner points.
  • Blue means the starting position based on 2008 owner points at the time.

Kyle Busch- 2008 Sprint Cup Record

Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Statistics

Year Races Wins Poles Top 5 Top 10 DNF Finish Start Winnings Season Rank Team(s)
2004 6 0 0 0 0 4 35.2 27.2 $394,489 50th Hendrick Motorsports
2005 36 2 1 9 13 8 21.0 18.6 $4,185,239 20th Hendrick Motorsports
2006 36 1 1 10 18 2 15.5 14.9 $4,821,093 10th Hendrick Motorsports
2007 36 1 0 11 20 2 14.1 15.0 $4,685,518 5th Hendrick Motorsports
2008 28 8 7 15 17 2 12.0 10.1 $5,627,113 12th Joe Gibbs Racing
Totals 142 12 9 45 68 18 19.6 17.2 $19,713,452

(Data as of September 21st, 2008) [17]

Races Won

Nextel/Sprint Cup (12 career wins)

Busch/Nationwide Series (20 career wins)

Craftsman Truck Series (10 career wins)

Nicknames

He is often nicknamed Shrub, since he is the younger brother of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch and a small bush is called a shrub.[18] He is also most commonly referred to as Rowdy Busch after Rowdy Burns in the movie Days of Thunder, as well as Little Busch after the TV series Lil' Bush. Recently Mike Joy coined the nickname Wild Thing as he is always making daring and bold moves on the track.

References

  1. ^ "Kyle First Career Win".
  2. ^ "Kyle Busch Most Races Won In Rookie Season".
  3. ^ "Kyle Busch Wins First Truck Race".
  4. ^ "Kyle Busch Wins First Career Nextel Cup Race".
  5. ^ "Kyle Busch Wins Nextel Cup Rookie Of The Year".
  6. ^ "Busch's Childhood".
  7. ^ "KBFoundation Mission Statement".
  8. ^ "Busch: Kicked Out Of 2001 American Racing Wheels 200 at Fontana".
  9. ^ "KB: Craftsman Truck Pole Sitter Carolina Education Lottery 200".
  10. ^ "KB: Youngest Pole Sitter In NEXTEL Cup History".
  11. ^ "Busch wins first COT race by beating Burton, Gordon on Nascar.com".
  12. ^ Busch announces plans to leave Hendrick
  13. ^ ___article.html/hendrick_races.html Sports: Notebook: Busch denies he wants to leave Hendrick | busch, hendrick, races : Gaston Gazette
  14. ^ "Kyle Busch announces Kyle's Miles".
  15. ^ "Edwards brings Bristol crowd to its feet with postrace spinout of Busch".
  16. ^ Express (Washington Post), August 28, 2008, p. 16.
  17. ^ Career Stats
  18. ^ Dale Earnhardt Incorporated Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, AUTO RACING,Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports - CBSSports.com

External links

Preceded by NASCAR Raybestos Rookie of the Year
2005 		Succeeded by

Template:TRIPLE

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tallula,_Illinois&oldid=244519174"