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Kyle Busch has always been on the fast track in life, literally. At such a young age and in such a short period of time, the Las Vegas native accomplished a lot on and off the race track.
In order to pursue his racing dream, Busch stepped up his academics, graduating with honors from Durango High School (Las Vegas) a year early.
At 16, Busch earned a pair of top-10 finishes in just six NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts before the sanctioning body mandated age restrictions in its top three circuits.
The next year, in 2002, he finished eighth in American Speed Association (ASA) championship points as a rookie and became a two-time Legends Car champion at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In 2003, Hendrick Motorsports formed an alliance that allowed Busch to run six select 2003 NASCAR Nationwide Series races in the No. 87 Chevrolet of NEMCO Motorsports with primary sponsorship from Ditech.com – leading to his Nationwide Series debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May, where he finished in second.
That season also saw Busch win the ARCA RE/MAX race at the Nashville Superspeedway in April while making his driving debut for Hendrick Motorsports.
Prior to the 2004 season, Busch posted two victories (Kentucky Speedway, Nashville) and two pole positions (Pocono, Nashville) in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
In 2004, Busch became the first rookie to finish second in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings. He was named NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year after he took top rookie honors 25 times in 34 races. Busch set rookie records with his performance throughout the 2004 season capturing 22 top-10 finishes, five wins, five poles and most laps led at 1,108. His victory total tied Greg Biffle for most wins by a rookie in the Nationwide Series since the program was created in 1989.
In 2005, Busch moved up to the Cup Series where he won the Rookie of the Year crown after capturing two wins, one pole and 13 top-10s. He also combined for four wins in the Nationwide and Truck Series that season.
The 2006 campaign was a very busy one for Busch, as he competed full time on the Cup circuit, raced 34 of 35 races in the Nationwide Series, and seven additional races in the Craftsman Truck Series. Nonetheless, he found success at most every corner – winning once and finishing in the top-10 in all of his Truck races, scoring one win and finishing seventh in the Nationwide Series standings, and qualifying for the Chase en route to finishing the Cup season in 10th place.
With 2007 only being his fourth season racing in the Cup series, Busch earned one victory, 11 top-fives, 20 top-10s, and finished a career-best fifth in the Cup Championship standings.
Busch rolled through the Sprint Cup Series regular season in 2008, winning eight of the year's first 26 races in sometimes dominating fashion.
But when Chase time came around, Busch's season went in a completely opposite direction. He started the playoffs with three straight dismal races and before the calendar turned to October was hopelessly out of the championship picture. He pulled off a 10th place finish in the final standings.
In addition to his eight Sprint Cup wins, Busch tied the Nationwide Series single-season mark scoring 10 wins to equal the feat of the legendary Sam Ard. He also scored three Craftsman Truck Series victories for an amazing 21 victories in NASCAR's top three divisions that year.
Busch was back in all three NASCAR Series in 2009, running full-time in Cup and Nationwide and 15 races in the Truck Series. Despite four victories in the Cup Series, Busch failed to make the Chase in the Cup Series for the first time since his rookie year. He only had nine top fives and 13 top 10s.
But, he won the championship in the Nationwide Series with nine victories, 25 top-five finishes and 30 top-10s in 35 starts. He also won seven victories in the Camping World Truck Series with 11 top fives and 13 top 10s.
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