Kurt Busch back on track
A week or so ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, one no longer could purchase Kurt Busch officially licensed products at the official NASCAR Stewart-Haas Racing souvenir booth under the stands.
One could buy all kinds of officially licensed products for No. 4 Kevin Harvick, No. 14 Tony Stewart, No. 10 Danica Patrick. But one couldn’t get so much as a pair of earplugs with Kurt Busch’s No. 41 printed on front.
After a Family Court judge in Delaware granted Busch’s ex-girlfriend a restraining order stemming from an incident that occurred behind closed motor home doors, NASCAR suspended the Las Vegas lead foot two days before last month’s Daytona 500.
They immediately removed the No. 41 earplugs, and all the other stuff with Busch’s picture or name on it, from the official NASCAR store.
At the track, his number still was listed on the banner under the stands. But where Busch’s name had been, there was only white space.
It was like that old song “Secret Agent Man” by Johnny Rivers: They had given Kurt Busch a number. They had taken away his name.
But when the district attorney back there did not press charges, Busch was reinstated. He got his name back on the No. 41 car and on the qualifying list for Sunday’s race in Phoenix, too.
He started eighth. He finished fifth.
Two-thirds into the race, Busch was challenging his teammate Harvick for the lead. But nobody beats Kevin Harvick at Phoenix. So Busch settled for a solid fifth-place finish in his first race back from NASCAR-imposed exile.
It was as if he had never been away.
The only difference now is that when Busch gives an interview, it’s labeled as “exclusive.” Like on those tabloid TV shows, or the stuff Barbara Walters used to do in prime time during sweeps week.
Before the race at Phoenix, Busch sat down with “Fox NASCAR Sunday” host Chris Myers for an exclusive interview. At least that’s what the news release said. If you saw their chat, you may have noticed Busch and Myers were standing instead of sitting.
These were among the highlights:
CM: “There are still some people out there who might say, ‘Well, he must have done something.’ ”
KB: “Well, my reply to that would be yes, domestic violence is a serious issue. The next step is the worst problem with that is when you’re falsely accused of it. It hurts the real victims. That’s what I have to say to that.”
CM: “There’s a real difference between a personal disagreement versus domestic violence, in your eyes?”
KB: “In somebody who has had moments of anger issues, that is one thing when you’re frustrated about a bad finish. But going to a step to actually hurt a woman or to hurt somebody, that’s not in my realm. That’s way beyond my reach.”
CM: “Were there some mistakes, if any, you made along the way in this?”
KB: “One of them is not changing the code to my motor home door. And frankly, choosing the wrong woman to date.”
Busch did not bristle when Myers asked the difficult questions or appear agitated. He was calm, cool, collected in expressing and defending himself.
Of course, this was before the race started.
After the race is usually when Busch blows his stack after something goes wrong. Everything must have gone right at Phoenix. When the pit road reporter (local Jamie Little) stuck a microphone in his face during the postrace postmortem, Busch was on his best behavior.
It might be because NASCAR still is watching him.
But maybe it’s because he was sincerely grateful to be out there in his element, racing again with friends and enemies. This is what Kurt Busch does best. This is what he does better than almost anybody out there, if one can look at this objectively.
Once he slides behind the wheel and tromps on the gas, Busch’s focus is incredible. He’s like the Hubble Space Telescope. He’s able to compartmentalize things, as if his life were a giant fishing tackle box.
Altercations over here, F-bombs on live TV over there, unproven domestic abuse charges in the big tray under the Zara Spooks and the topwater poppers and the buzzbaits.
After finishing fifth at Phoenix on Sunday, Busch told Little that it was a great result in his first race back and that he couldn’t thank his team enough for believing in him. He said it had been a great day. He thanked Haas Automation, Monster Energy, Mobil 1, Rush Truck Centers, State Water Heaters, Chevrolet.
When I checked Sunday night, NASCAR had given back Kurt Busch his name.
They must have been all out of official No. 41 earplugs at the official NASCAR online store. But one could get official red plaid Kurt Busch No. 41 flannel pajama pants, and they were even on sale for $24.99.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.
