Kurt Busch hoping to put his hometown race in the ‘W’ column

Feb 26, 2017; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch (41) celebrates winning the 2017 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. (Peter Casey/USA Today Sports)

Kurt Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

When Kyle Busch broke through for a victory in the 2009 Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his hometown, a familiar face photo-bombed the merrymaking in Victory Lane.

When Kurt Busch gave his kid brother a big hug, Darrell Waltrip was watching in the TV booth.

“That’s the most touching thing I’ve ever seen,” ol’ D.W. said, which may or may not have been true, because ol’ D.W. has seen a lot of touching things on the NASCAR circuit.

Perhaps this will be the week Kyle reciprocates.

Before the racing season began, 38-year-old Kurt Busch was asked about the races he’d still like to win, because when you get to be his age, that’s one of the questions that usually gets asked.

He had not yet won the Daytona 500, the biggest race of all for a NASCAR driver.

Now he has.

He has not won the Kobalt 400, probably the second-biggest race of all for a NASCAR driver from Las Vegas.

This weekend he gets another chance.

ANYTHING YOU CAN DO …

“It’s Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it’s my hometown, and I’ve never won there. And my little brother has,” Busch said during one of the many preseason press junkets promoting the 2017 season. “So getting back to that brother thing, I need to get a hometown win.

“Vegas is different. It’s our hometown, and we grew up racing on that little three-eighths-mile bullring that is in the shadows of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Every time I go out there, it reminds me of all the people who helped Kyle and me, especially our dad, Tom. But the different Late Model teams, modified teams, the Legend car races and all the competitors, the Dwarf car days. It’s just fun to come back and reminisce. It’s always special in Vegas.”

It’ll be even more special this year after being introduced as the Daytona 500 champion.

Nobody was expecting much from the older Busch brother at the Great American Race, not even Las Vegas bookmakers, who put him up as a 25-1 long shot. But after crashes removed many of the usual suspects from contention and the shuffle of restrictor-plate racing ran its course, Busch found himself in the lead pack at the finish.

After Chase Elliott and Martin Truex ran out of gas, Busch shot past Kyle Larson to take the lead on the white flag lap. When Larson’s tank ran dry and other challengers sputtered toward the finish, Busch pulled away for his first Daytona 500 victory in 16 tries.

So now Kurt has done something Kyle hasn’t, something they may discuss the next time they get together to compare their respective Cup Series championships.

“We have plenty of moments to dispute between the two of us. He can immediately rebut that he’s won at Indianapolis — that is a huge win in our sport, to win at the Brickyard,” said the driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing.

“Yes, I have a little bit of a slight edge right now because of the buzz and energy that comes with winning at Daytona. But over the years, he’s done an incredible job becoming his own driver with the statistics and everything that he’s done in the Cup Series, Xfinity and the Truck Series.

“So I think that, the more time goes by and the stats that we’re able to achieve add up, the two of us are getting closer instead of further apart as we go through life in racing.”

NEW BRIDE, NEW FOCUS

It’s statements such as those that speak to a new maturity Busch seems to have discovered at this stage of his career. The trials and tribulations he encountered on and away from the track as a young NASCAR driver have mostly disappeared and given way to a more calm and measured approach to his craft.

Busch said it’s probably no coincidence that people started noticing a change about the time he began a relationship with a polo player named Ashley Van Metre. The two were married during the offseason, and Busch credits his new bride for his new sense of self.

“It’s amazing,” he said before last week’s race in Atlanta. “Since the first day that we met, there’s been this instant chemistry, and a lot of it has to do with her sports background and being an athlete and jumping out onto the polo field to compete. She knows what it takes — the time, commitment, effort — to be with teammates and to do your homework, do research, watch video.”

Be positive. Think good thoughts. Know that you have everything you need to win.

Kurt Busch calls his new bride’s influence the “power of positivity.”

“Her calmness and ability at such a young age to influence me is like a special team member that I never knew that I was missing, and she’s helped me grow and become stronger on the racetrack.

“To have the home life and the time at the track and the celebrations and the fun things that we do, I couldn’t find a better partner in life.”

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Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.