NASCAR 2004: Kyle Busch sets own course

Thursday, March 4, 2004 | 10:41 a.m.

Kyle Busch has accomplished so much in his brief racing career that it is sometimes difficult to believe that he is only 18 years old.

Less than six years after first driving a Legends Car at the 3/8-mile short track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Busch already has competed in six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races, won three times in the Automobile Racing Club of America, driven in nine NASCAR Busch Series races and is slated to make his NASCAR Nextel Cup debut this weekend in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Busch, the younger brother of Nextel Cup star Kurt Busch, established himself in the Legends Cars ranks at LVMS, where he racked up more than 65 career victories and two track championships in three full seasons. Busch made the jump from the local short track to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2001 after Jack Roush, who also employs Kurt, gave him an audition.

But the road to his fulltime ride in the NASCAR Busch Series this season with Hendrick Motorsports was not without a rocky patch. After making six starts (with a pair of top-10 finishes) in the Truck Series with Roush in 2001 as a 16-year-old, Busch was prohibited from driving in NASCAR touring events for 18 months after the sanctioning body enacted a rule that only drivers 18 years of age and older could compete in such events.

No matter. Busch spent the 2002 season in the American Speed Association (ASA), where he posted five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 20 starts, and was looking to joining the Truck Series on a fulltime basis with Roush Racing once he turned 18 last May. Instead, he signed with rival team owner Rick Hendrick, in part, to escape his brother's shadow at Roush Racing.

In his first race with Hendrick Motorsports, Busch won an ARCA race at Nashville Superspeedway. He added another victory at Kentucky Speedway and won three poles in seven races. Busch also made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway last May, just three weeks after his 18th birthday, and finished second to Nextel Cup regular Matt Kenseth.

In his second Busch Series start, Busch posted another runner-up finish last August at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and finished the season with three top-10 finishes in seven outings.

This season, Busch is the leading contender for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award in the Busch Series. He opened the season at Daytona and finished 24th after his car developed overheating problems while he was running in the top 10 late in the race.

Busch rebounded two weeks ago at North Carolina Speedway with a seventh-place finish and is 12th in points coming into Saturday's Sam's Town 300.