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Sprint Cup
CUP: Kurt Busch Steps Up Investment In Drag Racing
Kurt Busch might be known for his stock-car prowess, but he's grown fond of drag racing, too...
Kurt Busch, pictured here on the 2011 Sprint Media Tour, is preparing to step up to drag racing's Pro Stock division with plans to roll out a new red-and-yellow Dodge Avenger. (Photo: Getty Images)
Kurt Busch, Pro Stock ace?
Well, maybe not just yet. But the 2004 NASCAR Cup champion has certainly stepped up his drag racing program heading into 2011.
Bitten by the drag racing bug a little more than two years ago when he attended the NHRA’s U.S. Nationals as a guest of drag racing legend Don Prudhomme, Busch has quickly jumped headfirst into the land of 1,000-foot passes.
He debuted a rebuilt 1970 Dodge Challenger at last year’s Gatornationals, which fell during an off weekend for Cup teams, competing in the Super Gas eliminator. And although his stay was short-lived – he was a first-round casualty – Busch clearly enjoyed the experience.
Now, he’s preparing to step up to the Pro Stock division with plans to roll out a new red-and-yellow Dodge Avenger for a return visit to the Gainesville, Fla., track.
“[It’s] just this infatuation with going fast on a quarter-mile has continued to grow and to grow and to grow,” Busch said. “Last year going to the Gatornationals and running in the sportsman ranks in Super Gas, we got rained out the whole weekend. Yet the pro divisions were still out there running. And I was like, ‘Man, if I am going to do this, I have to go to the pro division.’
“So a Pro Stock car, it is definitely over my head right now. It's a tough challenge. The testing has been going really well. The indications we’re getting right now, if we hit our marks and do the right things, we can make the show. That's my objective.”
Busch, who has obtained his NHRA Pro Stock license, tested earlier this year with Pro Stock veteran Alan Johnson at Bradenton, Fla., and says he’ll continue to test up until the race weekend, scheduled for March 10-13.
“So with only having three off weekends from the Cup schedule, there aren’t many opportunities to go and run as many NHRA races as I’d like,” he said. “We’ll start with the Gatornationals. I’ve had great partners with Shell and Dodge. I’m hoping for a couple of other brands that are on our Cup car to join in.
"It's just a great way to cross promote, have some fun and to be out there showcasing our colors that really help us on the Cup side.”
In a blog on his website, Johnson said Busch “made about seven attempts … including a 330 ft. run, a half-track run, several launches and two full runs – a 6.57 [second pass] and a 6.60, both at over 210 mph” during the test session.
“He’s felt the tires shake, had the chutes not deploy, forcing him to take manual action – he had quite a few incidents to learn from.”
NASCAR has had its share of personnel that have drifted across the straight and narrow world of drag racing to the left-turn life on the Cup circuit.
Raymond Beadle and Kenny Bernstein went from drag racing champions to Cup owners, while Joe Gibbs took the opposite route, building a successful drag racing program after his Cup team was up and running.
Beadle, a six-time Funny Car champion as a driver, debuted his Blue Max Cup team in 1983 with driver Tim Richmond. The organization won the 1989 Cup title with driver Rusty Wallace, and a total of 20 stock-car races from ’83 through 1990 with Tim Richmond (1983-1985) and Wallace (1986-1990).
Bernstein, a Funny Car and Top Fuel champion, fielded a Cup team from 1983-1995. King Racing managed three wins – two with Ricky Rudd and one with Brett Bodine behind the wheel.
Gibbs was already entrenched in NASCAR, having moved into an ownership role in 1992, when he put together a drag racing team that included drivers in all three professional categories – Cory McClenethan (Top Fuel), Funny car (Cruz Pedregon) and Jim Yates (Pro Stock).
Yates won NHRA titles in 1996 and ’97 while driving for Gibbs.
But those three were far from the first.
Richard Petty left NASCAR briefly in 1965 to drag race after the sanctioning body outlawed the Hemi engine. At the same time, noted car owner Cotton Owens fielded a Dodge Dart station wagon named, appropriately enough, the “Cotton Picker,” with none other than David Pearson behind the wheel.
And car owner Jack Roush was heavily into drag racing from the mid-1960s through 1978. During one five-year stretch, the Gapp & Roush Pro Stock team won championships in all three national drag racing series competing at the time.
Busch said that while team owner Roger Penske “has been smiling about it,” he knows his car owner “is a little worried” about his drag racing endeavors.
“We have to make sure we take care of the main contract. Just sign a little waiver that says if I get hurt, I can’t get paid on the Cup car, but that’s just the fun of going out there,” Busch said, laughing.
SceneDaily.com • Whether it’s racing or poker, confident Denny Hamlin driven to be the best
Well, maybe not just yet. But the 2004 NASCAR Cup champion has certainly stepped up his drag racing program heading into 2011.
Bitten by the drag racing bug a little more than two years ago when he attended the NHRA’s U.S. Nationals as a guest of drag racing legend Don Prudhomme, Busch has quickly jumped headfirst into the land of 1,000-foot passes.
He debuted a rebuilt 1970 Dodge Challenger at last year’s Gatornationals, which fell during an off weekend for Cup teams, competing in the Super Gas eliminator. And although his stay was short-lived – he was a first-round casualty – Busch clearly enjoyed the experience.
Now, he’s preparing to step up to the Pro Stock division with plans to roll out a new red-and-yellow Dodge Avenger for a return visit to the Gainesville, Fla., track.
“[It’s] just this infatuation with going fast on a quarter-mile has continued to grow and to grow and to grow,” Busch said. “Last year going to the Gatornationals and running in the sportsman ranks in Super Gas, we got rained out the whole weekend. Yet the pro divisions were still out there running. And I was like, ‘Man, if I am going to do this, I have to go to the pro division.’
“So a Pro Stock car, it is definitely over my head right now. It's a tough challenge. The testing has been going really well. The indications we’re getting right now, if we hit our marks and do the right things, we can make the show. That's my objective.”
Busch, who has obtained his NHRA Pro Stock license, tested earlier this year with Pro Stock veteran Alan Johnson at Bradenton, Fla., and says he’ll continue to test up until the race weekend, scheduled for March 10-13.
“So with only having three off weekends from the Cup schedule, there aren’t many opportunities to go and run as many NHRA races as I’d like,” he said. “We’ll start with the Gatornationals. I’ve had great partners with Shell and Dodge. I’m hoping for a couple of other brands that are on our Cup car to join in.
"It's just a great way to cross promote, have some fun and to be out there showcasing our colors that really help us on the Cup side.”
In a blog on his website, Johnson said Busch “made about seven attempts … including a 330 ft. run, a half-track run, several launches and two full runs – a 6.57 [second pass] and a 6.60, both at over 210 mph” during the test session.
“He’s felt the tires shake, had the chutes not deploy, forcing him to take manual action – he had quite a few incidents to learn from.”
NASCAR has had its share of personnel that have drifted across the straight and narrow world of drag racing to the left-turn life on the Cup circuit.
Raymond Beadle and Kenny Bernstein went from drag racing champions to Cup owners, while Joe Gibbs took the opposite route, building a successful drag racing program after his Cup team was up and running.
Beadle, a six-time Funny Car champion as a driver, debuted his Blue Max Cup team in 1983 with driver Tim Richmond. The organization won the 1989 Cup title with driver Rusty Wallace, and a total of 20 stock-car races from ’83 through 1990 with Tim Richmond (1983-1985) and Wallace (1986-1990).
Bernstein, a Funny Car and Top Fuel champion, fielded a Cup team from 1983-1995. King Racing managed three wins – two with Ricky Rudd and one with Brett Bodine behind the wheel.
Gibbs was already entrenched in NASCAR, having moved into an ownership role in 1992, when he put together a drag racing team that included drivers in all three professional categories – Cory McClenethan (Top Fuel), Funny car (Cruz Pedregon) and Jim Yates (Pro Stock).
Yates won NHRA titles in 1996 and ’97 while driving for Gibbs.
But those three were far from the first.
Richard Petty left NASCAR briefly in 1965 to drag race after the sanctioning body outlawed the Hemi engine. At the same time, noted car owner Cotton Owens fielded a Dodge Dart station wagon named, appropriately enough, the “Cotton Picker,” with none other than David Pearson behind the wheel.
And car owner Jack Roush was heavily into drag racing from the mid-1960s through 1978. During one five-year stretch, the Gapp & Roush Pro Stock team won championships in all three national drag racing series competing at the time.
Busch said that while team owner Roger Penske “has been smiling about it,” he knows his car owner “is a little worried” about his drag racing endeavors.
“We have to make sure we take care of the main contract. Just sign a little waiver that says if I get hurt, I can’t get paid on the Cup car, but that’s just the fun of going out there,” Busch said, laughing.
SceneDaily.com • Whether it’s racing or poker, confident Denny Hamlin driven to be the best
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