Friday, June 18, 2004 | 9:06 a.m.
Editor's note: Las Vegas resident Kurt Busch is seventh in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings, 310 points behind leader Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Although we're just a little over a third of the way through the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup season, the hype, mainstream appeal and larger-than-life presence that NASCAR has been generating continues to amaze me.
In March I won my ninth career Nextel Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was my third consecutive victory at the track and was at the site of my first career victory in 2002. What has surprised me more than anything between now and then was the increase in the number of media obligations and whirlwind of attention that I received as the race's winner.
I did literally dozen of interviews after the race, and it seems to be getting busier and busier with each passing race. For years, only the Daytona 500 winner attracted this amount of attention -- now, it seems like nearly every race winner gets treated like a king.
Earlier this year, I was a guest on "Live with Regis & Kelly" and the "Wayne Brady Show." Until a few years ago, shows like these would hardly consider NASCAR drivers as guests. But I guess it's becoming clearer to TV executives that NASCAR's 75 million U.S. fans are hard to ignore.
Every weekend, I'm also noticing a growing number of celebrities attending NASCAR races. I don't think anyone could have predicted five years ago that a racetrack would be considered the place to be seen for the Hollywood set. It's pretty cool because we get the chance to hang out with these people from different backgrounds and share stories of life on the road and being in the public eye.
Recently, folks like The Rock, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sheryl Crow have been spotted trackside or in the stands on race day. But I think one of the biggest things we've had happen this year was President Bush showing up in Daytona. That was incredible, and I know all of the drivers were thrilled to meet our country's leader.
Even Madison Avenue is jumping on board. More and more drivers are featured in TV commercials for big companies. Just last month, me and my fellow "Gillette Young Guns" spent two days in North Carolina filming spots. It was a blast. It's always fun to get together with the guys off the track, because once the checkered flag drops during the season, it's a different story.
I have heard all the stories over the years of what Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt did for the growth of NASCAR, and I would be foolish not to mention how Jeff Gordon has helped take NASCAR into another stratosphere in terms of acceptance, not just nationwide, but worldwide. Now, the job of leading the sport falls to drivers like me and the other young drivers on the Gillette endorsement team -- Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.
It's amazing how often these names frequent the winner's circle -- nine of 14 races this season -- and both fans and the National Prostate Cancer Coalition are benefiting from this success through weekly prizes and donations ranging from $1,000 to $5 million awarded at www.gilletteyoungguns.com.
I am not sure what the future holds for NASCAR, nor what my role will be. I can promise you, though, that I'm going to enjoy the ride while it lasts. Hopefully one day, people will be saying I did as much to grow the sport as some of the legendary names that came before me.
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