Kurt Busch’s profession of appreciable ups coupled with troubling downs has reached another pinnacle. The oldest of the 2 Busch brothers has been chosen as a brand new member of theHall of Fame.
Busch’s election and announcement got here Tuesday on the Corridor of Fame in
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When the formal inductions arrive in January of subsequent 12 months, Busch will likely be joined within the Corridor of Fame’s Class of 2026 by Harry Gant, the opposite inductee from the “fashionable period” poll, and “pioneer poll” inductee Ray Hendrick.
Kurt Busch in Victory Lane after inning the 2017 Daytona 500.
Additionally honored, with the Corridor’s Landmark Award for “excellent contributions,” will likely be Humpy Wheeler, longtime president of Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Meet the brand new NASCAR Corridor of Famers
Gant — recognized within the racing neighborhood as “Good-looking Harry” — was a 39-year-old Cup Collection rookie in 1979. He gained 18 races over a profession than lasted to age 54. The spotlight was the ’91 season when, at age 51, he gained 4 straight races (together with his second Southern 500 at Darlington) in early fall and was given the label of “Mr. September.”
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Hendrick did his successful simply exterior the largest NASCAR spotlights. He gained an estimated 700 races in late fashions and, principally, in modifieds, incomes the Mr. Modified moniker.
Howard Augustine Wheeler was a mix of old-school promotions, even on the greatest of big-league races, and new-age visionary. At Charlotte, with the backing of observe proprietor Bruton Smith (one other Corridor of Famer), Humpy constructed a condominium advanced exterior Flip 1, and in 1992 made Charlotte the primary huge speedway to put in lights.
Kurt Busch’s street to the Corridor of Fame
Together with successful NASCAR’s first championship playoffs, Busch additionally gained the first-ever playoff race — the postseason opener at New Hampshire in 2004.
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There was no winner-take-all closing within the early playoff years, however an accumulation of playoff factors. In the long run, Busch was simply eight factors higher than Jimmie Johnson and 16 higher than Jeff Gordon.
The Las Vegas native gained Cup Collection races for 5 completely different groups: Roush Racing, Group Penske, Stewart-Haas, Chip Gannassi Racing and 23XI, with whom he gained his closing race in 2022.
Later in that 2022 season, Busch wrecked throughout qualifying at Pocono and suffered a concussion. He missed the remainder of the 12 months and formally introduced his retirement the next season.
Alongside along with his on-track brilliance, Busch was recognized to ruffle feathers at occasions, significantly early in his profession. His testy temperament led to splits with a pair of legendary workforce homeowners — Jack Roush and Roger Penske.
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However there was by no means any doubting his racing potential. At age 20, he gained 4 races for Roush Racing in his one 12 months of full-time Truck Collection racing. He started his full-time Cup profession the following 12 months, 2001, and after a winless rookie marketing campaign, he gained 14 races and a championship over the following 4 seasons.
Together with successful races for 5 completely different groups, he gained Cup races in 4 completely different makes of vehicles: Ford, Chevy, Toyota and Dodge.
