The assignment was to infiltrate—with permission—the camp of Penske NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kurt Busch and his Shell/Pennzoil-sponsored team. I’d camp out on the pit box with crew chief Steve Addington for the entire race, monitor all the radio transmissions between Addington and Busch, and have basically what amounted to unlimited access. We’d do it at the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on the July 4th weekend. The result was documented here, with several hundred words, a boatload of photos, and a video.
Leading up to the race, though, I kept wondering, and kept worrying: Which Kurt Busch would I get?
Long the most perplexing enigma in the NASCAR garage, Kurt Busch—whose younger brother, Kyle, can be similarly confounding—is alternately charming and treacherous to deal with, depending on his mood.
Though it was billed this week as a mutual separation, there is little doubt that Busch’s departure from the Penske team was the result of a 1 minute, 53-second video taken by a fan in the garage area of Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch, an early contender for the NASCAR championship, had seen his season crumble as it wound down, and early transmission troubles forced him from the Homestead season finale.
ESPN pit reporter Jerry Punch, a respected medical doctor who spends his weekends at racetracks for the love of the sport, was preparing to interview Busch live on TV. But the shaky video captured a petulant, profane Busch cursing, pouting, and generally making an ass of himself before Punch finally walks away. Here is the video—and beware of the language—which remains on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsaBQq5D4Zg
It has been viewed more than 750,000 times, and was enough to force NASCAR into fining Busch $50,000; he also issued a formal apology. Interestingly, the introduction to the video—rewritten by Georgia teenager Jon Adams, posting as BakerSkating88, who took the footage—now points out that it is technically the property of NASCAR, since it was shot during the race. Which makes you wonder what the meeting was like at NASCAR in which executives likely discussed whether to exercise the option to have the video removed from YouTube and suffer the appropriate criticism for heavy-handed censorship, or let it play out. They wisely chose the latter course.
Already, it was going to be a season of change for Busch, as his crew chief, Steve Addington, quit to join now-champion Tony Stewart. Addington is too professional to admit it, but it is believed his departure came, in part, because he was tired of days like the one the team spent at the Richmond race last spring. During that race, Busch, in several profanity-laden tirades broadcast over the team radio during the race, expressed his frustration concerning his ill-handling Dodge Charger by berating teammates and naming names, including that of Tom German, then Penske Racing’s technical director. “We look like a monkey [blanking] a football! The [blank] Penske [cars] are a [blanking] joke. [Blank] everybody.”
Which possibly explains my nervousness prior to the Daytona assignment. Would I get the Kurt Busch from Richmond, or the one I interviewed earlier that spring at Gainesville Raceway, a drag strip where Busch, with a rare weekend off, made his debut in the NHRA’s Pro Stock division. That Kurt Busch could not have been more of a gentleman, or more generous with his time.
And fortunately, that is the Kurt Busch who showed up at Daytona. Despite a frustrating day, Busch was a complete professional on the radio, showing frustration only late in the race when NASCAR kept requiring certain repairs be made to his crashed race car—not Busch’s fault—before he could return to competition. And even then, he was more cordial than most of us would have been over NASCAR’s foot-dragging.
The upshot: Penske and Busch formally separated Sunday night, and there are several good drivers who can fill Busch’s seat. But there aren’t many good rides available so late in the season, so where Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR champion, will end up next season is anyone’s guess.
At least he seems to understand the problem. In a statement on his web site, kurtbusch.com, he said, “I recognize the passion and emotion that have helped me succeed on the track need to be better channeled off the track. The past few months I began working with a sports psychologist to help me better deal with my emotions, especially following moments of frustration during competition.”
Busch is a winner on the track, inarguably one of the 10 most talented drivers in NASCAR. But he has some bridges to mend, and fast.
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