Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a NASCAR driver. He drives the #2 Miller Lite Dodge in Nextel Cup Series and part time in Busch Series driving the #12 Penske Truck Rental Dodge. In 2004, he finished 8 points ahead of Jimmie Johnson to win the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Championship in the first ever season using the "Chase for the Cup" points format. Busch drove the #97 Sharpie/Irwin Industrial Tools Ford for Roush Racing in 2005. In 2006, Busch replaced the retiring Rusty Wallace in the No. 2 Roger Penske owned, Miller Lite sponsored Dodge Charger. With a 2006 win in the Busch Series he became one of only 16 drivers with a win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions (Nextel Cup, Busch, and Craftsman Truck Series).

Kurt is a second-generation NASCAR driver and winner of the inaugural “Chase for the NEXTEL Cup” in 2004, Busch was also the runner-up finisher in the closest finish in the sport’s history at Darlington Raceway on March 16, 2003. After an exciting and near-explosive two-lap side-by-side battle with Ricky Craven around the tight and tricky 1.366-mile track, Craven crossed the finish line only 0.002 seconds ahead of Busch in the photo-finish.

Busch was a competitor in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series and gained his first national exposure while competing against Ron Hornaday, Matt Crafton, Greg Biffle, Chris Trickle, and Kevin Harvick among others in the 1998 Winter Heat Series at Tucson Raceway Park.

Busch earned his big break after a tragedy. Chris Trickle was shot in a mysterious shooting (Trickle would die of the injuries over a year later and to this day the murderer has never been found), and the Star Nursery team looked for a new driver to replace Trickle for the #70 team. Busch inherited the ride for the team and won the 1999 AutoZone Elite Division Southwest Series championship.

That led to a tryout in a Roush Racing "Gong Show", which he won and earned a Craftsman Truck Series ride. He caused controversy when Jack Roush invited him to race in the Winston Cup Series, without any experience from the Busch Grand National Series, while overlooking Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch's more experienced teammate.

Busch began racing on the Winston Cup circuit in 2000, at the age of 22. He replaced Chad Little in the #97 John Deere Ford. His first race in the Winston Cup Series was in Dover in September 2000, 1 month after his 21st birthday. He drove in 7 races, with no wins, top 5's, or top 10's, and finished 48th in the standings that year, with Jeff Hammond as crew chief.

Busch ran for rookie of the year honors in 2001, starting 35 of 36 races with no wins, although he scored three top fives and six top tens that year. Kurt finished with a #27 ranking, was the runner-up Rookie of the Year, earned more than $2 million in winnings. He won the pole at the Southern 500, finished third at the Talladega 500 and fifth at the Brickyard 400. He also won his first pole position for the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

2002 was Busch's breakout year in the Winston Cup Series, scoring four wins, 12 top fives and 20 top tens, with one pole, and finishing third in the final standings. He finished the season particularly strong, winning three out of the final five races and finishing third and sixth and leading many laps in the other two. He also collected $5,105,394.

Busch had an up and down year in 2003, earning four wins, nine top fives and 14 top tens but finishing only 11th in the standings, although he collected US$5 million+ dollars again that year. It was a season marred by an ongoing feud with fellow driver Jimmy Spencer. After some car-to-car bumping at a race at the Michigan International Speedway, Jimmy Spencer reached into Busch's car, grabbed him, and punched Busch in the nose. Kurt first claimed that his car stalled out in front of Spencer's garage, though audio later revealed that he stopped the car, revved the engine, and threatened Spencer from his car. Spencer was forced to sit out the next week's race, and both drivers were fined and placed on probation for the rest of the year. The altercation harmed Busch's relationship with fans significantly. He has since attempted to repair this image through charitable donations and many public appearances where he interacts with fans.

In 2004, Busch won three races, two poles and the inaugrual NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship. He scored ten top five and 21 top ten finishes that season.

Midway through the 2005 season, Busch announced that he would be leaving Roush Racing at the end of the season and would replace Rusty Wallace in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge for Penske Racing South. Busch won three races during the 2005 season, along with nine top five and 18 top ten finishes in 3400 races. He finished 10th in the final standings despite missing the final two races after being prematurely released from his Roush Racing contract.

In the February 2006 edition of GQ Magazine, he was selected number 3 on their list of the top ten most hated athletes, behind Barry Bonds and Terrell Owens.

Aside from Jimmy Spencer, Busch has had notable run-ins with Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart. On June 4, 2007 in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway, after a crash with Stewart he drove into Stewart's car on pit road, nearly hitting a member of Stewart's pit crew. Busch was penalized 100 championship points, fined $100,000, and placed on probation until the end of the year.

Busch's 2005 season was cut short by two races after a confrontation during the Phoenix, Arizona race weekend with Maricopa County Sheriff deputies on November 11, 2005, when he was pulled over for suspicion of drunken driving and cited for reckless driving. At first, the Sheriff's department claimed that their equipment for sobriety testing had failed and they could not release results of his drunk driving tests. This claim later proved to be false, but the damage was already done - Roush Racing responded two days later by suspending Busch for the remainder of the season and replacing him with Kenny Wallace for the final two races; team president Geoff Smith famously declared they were "officially retiring as Kurt Busch's apologists." Busch was 8th in the Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship standings, 281 points behind points leader Tony Stewart, when the suspension was announced. By the time the season ended, his absence dropped him to 10th in the standings. His younger brother, Kyle, won the race that weekend at Phoenix International Raceway and voiced his support for his older brother while in victory lane.

As three months had passed, the press interest in the incident dropped off by the time the situation was resolved. It was revealed later that there was in fact no evidence of drunk driving after breathalyzer and field sobriety tests were administered, leaving only a charge of reckless driving. In a plea agreement reached on February 8, 2006, Busch pled guilty to the misdemeanor charge of speeding and two other traffic citations: following too close and passing in a no-passing zone. The reckless driving charge was dropped. Busch paid $580 in fines and court fees, and was sentenced to perform 50 hours of community service which must be completed within 1 year. In November 2006, one year after the incident, Busch was declared an honorary deputy in Maricopa County.

Busch left Roush Racing and joined Penske Racing South in 2006. Busch had asked team owner Jack Roush to let him out of his contract at the end of the 2005 season to replace the retiring Rusty Wallace in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger, but Roush initially refused. However, after Chip Ganassi released Jamie McMurray from his 2006 contract, Roush followed suit. McMurray replaced Busch in the carhttp://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/cup/11/07/kbusch.jmcmurray.cmears.2006/index.html/, which was later renumbered from #97 to #26. In the 2006 season, driving for Penske, Busch scored one win at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500. He also won six poles and had seven top fives and twelve top ten finishes but finished a disappointing 16th in the final standings.

In the 2007 season, Busch has two wins, one pole and has scored five top fives and ten top tens through 26 races and qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Busch's on-track performance increased noticeably after the addition of Pat Tryson as his crew chief mid-way through the season.

Busch became engaged to girlfriend, Eva Bryan, while attending the 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix. On July 27, 2006, during an off weekend following the NEXTEL Cup Pocono race. Kurt Busch and Eva Bryan were married in Virginia. The footage was taped and later aired on national television. The couple currently resides in North Carolina, and travels to racetracks each week together. Kurt's younger brother Kyle Busch (aka Shrub, Rowdy and Little Busch) also competes full-time in both the Nextel Cup Series and Busch series. The Busch's have two dogs, a Yorkshire Terrier named Ginger, and a Cairn Terrier named Jim (who passed away in the Summer of 2007). The Busch's and their dogs are featured in the NASCAR Pets calender. Busch is also an avid fan of the Chicago Cubs.

<nowiki>*</nowiki> - of 36 races

*Bristol Motor Speedway (sweep in '03) *Martinsville Speedway *Atlanta Motor Speedway *Homestead-Miami Speedway *California Speedway *Michigan International Speedway *Phoenix International Raceway *New Hampshire International Speedway (sweep in '04) *Pocono Raceway *Richmond International Raceway

To date, Busch has won at Bristol five times. That ties him with Jeff Gordon for the most wins at that track among active drivers.

*Texas Motor Speedway *Watkins Glen International

Kurt Busch has two career Busch series wins and one pole in only seven career starts, all in 2006, and at Texas, Kurt continued his infamous snow angel celebration of which he still uses after a victory.

<div class="references-small">

</div>

* Kurt Busch's Official Website * Career statistics at racing-reference.info * 10 Questions with Kurt Busch - July 2005 interview of the defending Nextel Cup champ * TRPR - The Tom Roberts Public Relations Agency represents Miller Brewing and its driver Kurt Busch.. Press Releases and Race Reports * - #12 Penske Truck Rental Dodge Fan Site * Player Profile on ArmchairGM