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Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch, winner of the inaugural NASCAR NEXTEL Cup in 2004, tied with Jeff Gordon for distinction of being the third-youngest champion in series history at 26 years, 3 months, 27 days.
Busch, who held off runner-up Jimmie Johnson by only eight points, finished with three wins, one pole, 10 top fives, 21 top 10s and a career-low three DNFs in 36 starts.
He began his racing career at 14, driving a Dwarf Car owned by his father at Pahrump Valley Speedway, a quarter-mile clay track outside Las Vegas. In 1996, Busch was the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Hobby Stock champion at The Bull Ring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, among three titles he won at the 3/8-mile-paved venue. Busch won the Nevada Dwarf Car championship in 1995 and was Legends Car National Rookie of the Year in 1996.
In consecutive seasons he won the Featherlite Southwest Series Rookie of the Year Award in 1998, became the youngest FSWS championship in 1999, finished second in the championship and won the rookie of the year award in the CTS and also made his Cup debut in 2000.
Busch stepped into the No. 97 John Deere Ford formerly driven by Chad Little at Dover in September when Roush released Little. Busch competed in seven events to maintain his rookie eligibility and had two top-10 starts and a best finish of 13th, in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October.
In the Truck Series he truly was a diamond in the rough, however. He tied for second in the Bud Pole standings with teammate Greg Biffle, with four pole awards apiece. He won his first race in his 14th start and won a total of four races, including the season finale Motorola 200 at California Speedway. He logged an impressive 13 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes in 24 starts.
His Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year effort took a big hit with four finishes of 30th or worse in his first six starts and Busch was eventually overpowered by late entrant Kevin Harvick as he tottered to an uneven 27th in the standings.
Busch had the high point of a Bud Pole at Darlington Raceway and three top-five finishes, including a third at Talladega in the spring. But his Roush Racing Ford team was hit with seven DNFs and had 15 finishes of worse than 30th.
Busch had a daunting task ahead of him as he attempted to win rookie of the year honors in one of NASCAR's top divisions, following up his 2000 rookie of the year campaign in the Craftsman Truck Series. Harvick's entrance ultimately made it impossible.
However, the next season saw Busch come to the forefront of Cup racing. In all, Busch's 2002 campaign included four victories, including three of the season's last five, 12 top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes in 36 starts. He won the season's final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway from the Bud Pole.
Busch finished the year fourth in the Cup standings, trailing series champion Tony Stewart by 159 points.
Although Busch scored three wins and made the "Chase" for the second consecutive season, the 2005 season is one Busch will want to forget, despite agreeing to take over the famed No. 2 Miller Lite machine from the retiring Rusty Wallace at the end of the season.
After feuding over his contract negotiations with owner Jack Roush, Busch was finally let go in the in the last month of the season. With two races to go Roush let Busch step out of the car two races earlier as he was suspended by Roush for the remainder of the Cup Series season in response to his police altercation in Phoenix.
As a first year member of Penske Racing in 2006, Busch scored one victory, seven top fives and 12 top-10s finishes. Although the numbers weren't awful, it did lead to his worst campaign since his rookie year, as he finished 16th in the NEXTEL Cup standings.
