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. 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. (In 2006, Marlboro ejected Grand-Am Daytona Prototype driver Colin Braun, 17, from three sportscar races held in conjunction with the Indy Racing League because they have an IRL sponsorship.)
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; Grand National (Busch East and AutoZone West) and Whelen Modified (North and South) Tours will now permit drivers as young as 16 to enter the races.)
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.
Busch returned to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2005 for a limited number of races in Billy Ballew'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.
Busch repeated his Lowe's victory in 2006 in a truck painted to resemble the Rowdy Burns car in "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.
NASCAR Busch Series
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. 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 of 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 Super speedway, where he also started from the pole position (his other pole in 2003 was at Pocono). Kyle'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. Kyle won the Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 2005. Kyle won the Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2006.
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
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 bio in 2006
A strong victory in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway led to a strong showing 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.
Kyle started mid-pack 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. Kyle followed up the next week at Dover International Speedway with an initially strong run before an engine failure took him out of the race. Kyle 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.
Kyle 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. Kyle 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.
Kyle Busch bio in 2007
With his win at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, on March 25th, Kyle became the first NASCAR Nextel Cup driver to win in NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow.
Kyle Thomas Busch was born on May 2, 1985 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kyle Busch is an American race car driver. Kyle Busch grew up racing at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch is often nicknamed Shrub, since he is the younger brother of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch and a small bush is called a shrub.