My Memories With Kyle Busch

Like many others, I was shocked at the sudden passing of Kyle Busch. On television, he came across as a polarizing driver with a no-B.S. attitude. But for those, like myself, who got to interact with him on many occasions, he was just…like all of us.

I interacted with Kyle on many occasions from 2002 to 2020, mostly when he came to compete in Wisconsin.

The first time was in 2002 when he was at Madison International Speedway for the ASA race. The night before, there was a party at Viking Lanes in Stoughton. Well, when the lanes are available, many take advantage, including KB.

He did have a unique way of tossing the bowling ball down the alley. When I say “toss,” I meant it literally. He would toss the ball down the lane, and it didn’t actually make contact with the lane until about halfway down the alley. I think it was Bob Dillner who dared him to hit the ceiling. Well, not only did he hit the ceiling, the damn ball went through the ceiling.  

The next morning, members of the Vaade family came to the track with the damaged ceiling tile and the ball, which was presented to Kyle at the drivers’ meeting.

Five years later, Kyle returned to Madison to compete in the ASA Midwest Tour event, where he finished sixth. He was part of a star-studded group of drivers competing that day. It was also my first Midwest Tour race that I worked for them. They had me host a VIP meet-and-greet with Kyle, Dick Trickle, Johnny Sauter, and Rich Bickle Jr. where I had Kyle tell his side of the bowling story.

Earlier in the day, I had those four drivers on a golf cart. I need to find a photo of that as we were climbing up the hill.

He returned to Madison on Sunday, May 4, 2008, for another Midwest Tour race.

Now there is a reason why I specifically remember that date. Kyle was born on May 2nd, and I was born on May 3rd. So on May 4th, the Midwest Tour surprised us two during driver introductions by presenting both of us with a birthday cake.

As we posed for photos, Kyle attempted to spread frosting on my face. I caught him and avoided it. As we continued to pose for photos, I was able to sneak some frosting and slowly run it down his cheek. Everyone was laughing. Kyle stood there and continued to smile as I did it.

He would continue to stand there and smile, and through his teeth, he whispered, “I’m going to f*ckin kill you!” I am not sure if others heard that or not, but I did and was laughing. He was a good sport about it, and I have photos to prove what I did, and this is a memory that will now have more special meaning to me.

He raced at Madison twice that year. The May race happened to be the day after his run-in with Dale Jr. at Richmond, where Jr. hit the wall and was done.

I remember seeing him the morning of the race and asked him if he would be available for the media. He said, “Sure, but with one condition: I don’t talk Cup, but why I liked coming to compete at the local tracks.” He did that again in June when he was part of an event with Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart. He didn’t want to talk about his day job but wanted to promote the weekly short tracks.

Fast forward to the 2012 Snowball Derby, where that was the first time I was asked by Bob Dillner to come and work for Speed 51 that week. One job he asked me to do was run victory lane for the Snowflake and the Derby. We came up with a checklist of what poses to take with the trophy, team, the ring, etc.

It was in that race where a young Erik Jones passed Kyle to win the race. As Erik came to a stop on the frontstretch, at the request of the photographers, I kept Erik in the car until the announcer could get to the car and the photographers were in place to get that epic out-of-car celebration photo.

As I was standing at the driver’s door, I felt a nudge and it was Kyle Busch. He reached in the car and shook Erik’s hand. He also said, “You and I need to talk.” Well, that led to Jones driving his truck and a year later, I happened to be in Phoenix when Jones won his first truck race, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports. (Thanks for those opportunities, Bob Dillner!)

The last time I got to have a one-on-one off-the-record conversation with Kyle was in 2017 when he competed in the Dixieland 250, yes, the one he won and was disqualified in post-race inspection.

It was also the same day when NASCAR announced they were going to be limiting the number of races that Cup drivers were eligible to race in, what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

Kyle and I were walking back to his pit area and shared with me about his grave concerns with this announcement. I remember him mentioning that this could cause him to shut down Kyle Busch Motorsports simply because most of the sponsorship money coming to that team was based on him running as many of those events as he could along with being a building block for many other drivers.

It was a Kyle Busch that you didn’t see on television or heard on the radio. It was someone who was genuinely concerned about the future of his team. It was almost like he had to vent to someone, and I was that sounding board.

In 2023, KBM was sold to Spire Motorsports after 15 seasons.

Kyle was always respectful to me as I was respectful to him. I didn’t try to work with him as a fan, but as a fellow employee at work. He had his job and I had mine, and I felt there was a mutual respect between us.

He may not remember my name, but he always remembered my face.

His sudden death wasn’t just a major blow to the top three NASCAR series, but it is a huge loss to all of the short tracks. He was one of those drivers who didn’t get paid to show up at a short track during the week; he came to race in front of fans who normally saw him race on television.

He came to race in our backyards.

Kyle Busch…he came to short tracks…he took the racing seriously…and many times he won.

He will always have my respect.