Las Vegas locals Kurt and Kyle Busch began their racing careers at the Bullring track just over the fence from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Kurt made his first trip to the Bullring when he was only 2 weeks old, and Kyle was taken there only 10 days after being born.
“It all started here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, on the little Bullring that’s just outside of this big mile-and-a-half (track),” said Kurt Busch, a Durango High grad, following Wednesday’s tire testing session at the speedway. “Racing on that little three-eighths mile, there are so many memories. So many moments, wins, wrecks and lessons.”
The speedway is where Kurt Busch’s career started, and it’s where his 2016 NASCAR campaign began on Wednesday.
Kurt Busch, along with fellow former champions Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski, participated in NASCAR’s tire testing event to help perfect the tires before the season officially starts on Feb. 21 in Daytona, Fla.
“All of the drivers are champion drivers and we are here to help develop a tire, along with this car, that has less down-force,” he said.
Las Vegas is a popular destination for these types of events for a multitude of reasons.
“Most importantly it’s the weather,” Kurt Busch said. “Secondly it’s a track that we only race once a year so the notes don’t get as defined here. We race Kansas twice. We race Charlotte three times. We have so many notes for those tracks so we always like to go tracks that we have minimal data on.”
NASCAR has made several tweaks to the cars and the tires in an attempt to slow the cars down, but so far the results have been the opposite.
“Things are acting a little different than we anticipated,” Johnson said. “Bottom line is we are just fast. We are really fast. We took down-force off of the car and lowered the gear ratio and a lot of things to kind of slow the cars down, but we are every bit as fast if not faster than the combination that we had last year.”
It’s the first time these drivers have touched the track since last season.
“I was in full offseason mode and then after the first run yesterday, there’s no other way to get that smile,” Johnson said. “It’s a nice way to remember how cool my job is and have some fun. It’s fun to get on the track and knock the rust off to get ready for the season.”
Last season ended with Kurt’s younger brother Kyle hoisting the Sprint Cup Series trophy, matching Kurt’s 2004 title and becoming only the second set of brothers to both wear a NASCAR crown.
“It was really neat to see (Kyle) win it all last year,” Kurt Busch said. “It ties us together as a brother group that won championships along with the Labontes. I’m very proud of him. I’m honestly just really happy for him.”
Terry and Bobby Labonte were the first to do it, with Terry winning championships in 1984 and 1996, and Bobby winning in 2000.
But Kurt stresses that watching his brother make the trip to victory lane to end the season hasn’t given him any extra motivation heading into 2016.
“There is motivation for me every year, but it’s not any extra incentive by him winning,” Kurt Bush said. “It’s just neat to see both of us with a championship ring and a championship trophy.”
Kurt Busch has plenty else to worry about, having left the Furniture Row Racing team in favor of Stewart-Haas Racing in the offseason.
“I’m excited for it. It’s a tremendous opportunity. With Haas Automation and everyone on the 41 team, this is the most excited that I’ve seen a group wanting to come to the track to get some laps in in the middle of January,” he said. “Then take a little bit of time off, and then attack, attack, attack.”
Last year was successful for Kurt Busch. He finished eighth in the standings with two wins, 10 top-5 finishes and 21 top-10 finishes.
“With working out harder, we are mentally focused on what we need to do as a team to be better and to work our way through the regular season, and then once the chase starts that’s when you really have to be ready,” Busch said. “Once Daytona starts the season doesn’t let up. So with everything we’ve done on the 41 team to be prepared and to be ready, I’m really excited about this year.”
Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.
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