Kurt Busch admits that he is trying hard to gain popularity. Credit: Autostock

Kurt Busch trying to change fans' perception

'The more I can model myself after Rusty, the better,' Busch says

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- The chorus of boos that echoed through Chase Field on Tuesday night had nothing to do with Kurt Busch being there to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Arizona Diamondbacks faced the San Francisco Giants.

	Kurt Busch is 17th in the standings this season, 13 spots below where he was last year after seven races. Credit: Autostock
	Kurt Busch 2006 Cup statistics Race Start Finish Daytona 13 38 California 1 16 Las Vegas 6 16 Atlanta 9 37 Bristol 9 1 Martinsville 9 11 Texas 7 34 Average 7.7 21.9

They were reserved for Giants' slugger Barry Bonds, the center of controversy since allegations of his steroid use became public.

But had this been a NASCAR event they easily could have been aimed at the 2004 Nextel Cup champion.

Like Bonds, Busch knows what it's like to be immersed in controversy. It was that way at last November's race at Phoenix International Raceway, where the Cup Series resumes this weekend, after police charged him with reckless driving and made accusations of belligerent behavior.

Like Bonds, Busch knows what it's like to have fans respect him for his tremendous talent and admonish him for his personality.

Like Bonds, Busch knows what it's like to have objects thrown at him as Bonds did during Monday night's game against the Diamondbacks.

Like Bonds, Busch knows what it's like to be hated. According to a February issue of GQ Magazine, he was the third-most hated athlete in sports behind Bonds at No. 2 and NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens at No. 1.

"When Barry Bonds came up to bat and there were all those boos I was, 'Poor guy. I know how he feels,'" Busch said before Thursday's qualifying.

The difference here is Bonds doesn't appear to greatly care what others think of him.

Busch does.

He wants nothing more than to be popular among fans, to be appreciated as a working-man's man like Rusty Wallace, the driver he replaced in the Penske Racing South No. 2 Dodge this season.

He wants to be an asset for his sponsor, Miller Lite, and market the product and himself in a positive manner.

"I don't think a lot of people know that I'm the one that would jump on my own roof and clean out my own gutters because the leaves are sitting in there and the water is leaking," said Busch, the defending champion of Saturday's race.

"I want to be the working man's man, because that's what I am."

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Some are starting to see that side of Busch. He's been more in the public promoting his sponsor, visiting breweries and doing appearances he never had the opportunity to do at Roush Racing the past five seasons.

His licensed merchandise sales have increased about 55 percent, although they still lag well behind what one would expect of a former champion. He ranks in the mid-teens, slightly ahead of where he ranked a year ago as the reigning champ.

Wallace's sales consistently were in the top 10, reaching No. 4 a year ago during his farewell tour.

Busch knows he's taking baby steps, but at least they're steps in the right direction.

"All that needs to happen is the real me needs to come out," Busch said. "Like last weekend, an off weekend, nine out of 10 people when I talked to them they're like, 'Wow! You're not such a bad guy!'"

But some still see Busch as the 27-year-old punk that knocked Jimmy Spencer out of the way to get his first Cup victory at Bristol in 2002 and reportedly told the arresting officer in Phoenix, "Don't you know who I am?"

Busch understands the dilemma he faces with fans. So do the people that market him.

"Rusty was a known commodity," said Dockery Clark, a spokesperson for Miller Lite. "We feel like Kurt may not be, and that maybe he's slightly misunderstood.

"But every time I've been around him he's been very personable, very engaging. He's got a good head on his shoulders in terms of how he interacts with people. We just want other people to see that."

Life-changing moment

Kurt Busch is glad to have a fresh start in a new ride, but he's still shaking the cobwebs off. Credit: Autostock

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Busch's future flashed before his eyes the Friday before the Nov. 13 Cup race at PIR as he stood on the side of the road after being pulled over about three miles from the track.

He'd recently signed his contract with Miller Lite, giving him an opportunity to be promoted like he'd always dreamed.

He wasn't sure whether new owner Roger Penske and his sponsors would stand behind him.

"I had no idea how everything would play out," Busch said. "But Roger put his arm around me and everything has been wonderful since. It's great working with this new team and having their support."

But it got worse before it got better. Reports surfaced that alcohol was detected on Busch's breath at the scene and that Busch berated the officer.

By that Sunday owner Jack Roush had suspended Busch for the final two races, saying the company and sponsors were "embarrassed." That alcohol was in the initial report and Crown Royal was one of Busch's primary sponsors played a factor.

"We would have had a very good chance of having the sponsor pulling the contract at that moment after the entire history of positive racing followed by negative personal qualities," Roush Racing president Geoff Smith said.

Miller Lite officials stood behind Busch, who in February was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service that was completed this week.

They moved forward with an aggressive marketing program for a driver that research shows has great appeal for males 21 to 27.

"We all make mistakes," Clark said. "It was a wakeup call. We obviously were disappointed, but we believed he deserved the opportunity to learn from his experience. He has.

"It wasn't fun for any of us. We made it clear that it's not acceptable, and he understands why. But at the end of the day, he wasn't under the influence. He let a bad situation get to him. He's learned from that mistake and he's ready to move on."

Penske said the incident was overblown.

"We've been through that enough to know he doesn't have to worry about that anymore," he said. "From my perspective, he's gonna be a hot prospect."

It's a process

Busch's public persona took its first hit in 2002 when he got into a feud with Spencer, a far less talented driver but loved nonetheless by fans.

One of the more memorable moments of that season came when Busch stood on the track at Indianapolis, after being pinned into the Turn 3 wall by Spencer, pointed his rear end in the direction of Spencer and then pointed where it could be kissed.

The two also tangled at Bristol and Michigan, the latter resulting in Spencer striking Busch after the race.

Busch admitted he could have used more grooming, reminding he made a quick jump from Late Models in 1999 to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2000 to the Cup Series in 2001.

Rusty Wallace, former driver of the No. 2 Penske Dodge, now wears his owner's hat in the Busch Series. Credit: Autostock

"My first approach was I just want to be a regular guy out, hanging out, a little fish in a big pond," he said. "Then I won a race. Then I won another race. Things escalated.

"I never really adapted to being a race winner, a multiple race winner, a guy that could lead the points, and a guy that could be in the top five all the time. So when I got into Cup, I had a chance to bump the veteran out of the way and that started it all."

Wallace understands. He went through a similar situation after wrecking Darrell Waltrip in the 1989 all-star race in Charlotte.

"I was hated for four years," Wallace said. "I went out and did a lot of autograph sessions, a lot of charitable things, and a lot of nice things to let people know I was genuine.

"My popularity finally came around, but I had to really convince people that the Rusty they were booing was really not that bad Rusty.''

Wallace admitted those were frustrating times, and he senses some of the same frustration in Busch.

"He's struggling right now because he's hot and cold," Wallace said. "He'll do something real good like win Bristol, and then he'll find controversy like he did [at Texas]. It tends to move minds back and forth."

Busch won his first race in Wallace's old car last month on the half-mile track that Wallace dominated. Afterwards, he named the car "Rusty" and shook hands with Spencer, working for the SPEED channel, during a post-race interview.

"You should have seen it after the race, the amount of people that came over and said they were on the fence, that they didn't know what they wanted to do," Busch said.

Kurt Busch earned his fifth career victory at Bristol. Credit: Autostock

Food City 500 Official Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Kurt Busch Dodge 2. Kevin Harvick Chevy 3. Matt Kenseth Ford 4. Carl Edwards Ford 5. Bobby Labonte Dodge 6. Mark Martin Ford 7. Greg Biffle Ford 8. Kyle Busch Chevy 9. Ryan Newman Dodge 10. Kasey Kahne Dodge • Complete results, click here • Official standings, click here Victory LaneKurt Busch celebrates his Food City 500 win Final lapsKurt Busch rolls to the checkered flag at the Food City 500 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

"Not just one race will fix it, but it was definitely a great place to win."

Two weeks later, Busch and former Roush teammate Greg Biffle had an on-track incident that continued off the track with Biffle's girlfriend visiting Busch's fiancée in Busch's pit stall.

"Roger was asking me forever, 'Who do we want to put in this car?'" Wallace said. "When he made the comment that Kurt Busch is calling, I said, 'No kidding. He can definitely do the job of driving this car, but we'll definitely have to work on his image.'"

New experiences

Busch was at a small pub with several Miller Lite girls pushing their product in one of his first appearances for his new sponsor.

"I went up to a group of girls to get them a beer and they thought I was trying to hit on them," Busch said with a laugh.

Busch is enjoying his new role as a spokesman for the company. He likes seeing his face on the side of Miller Lite bottles, although he jokingly admits they're "not as flattering as they could be."

This is the exposure he wanted when he made the decision to leave Roush Racing, which he goes out of his way to thank for giving him his big break.

"It's been just an eye-opener to be able to meet with the sponsors and have a rapport with this group," Busch said. "Before I was sheltered from them and didn't get to know them on a personal basis."

Busch also is more high profile on the merchandising side of sponsor products, which wasn't the case at Roush where the primary sponsorship of his car was split between Sharpie and Crown Royal.

Biffle understands.

"I see what he was trying to do, change his image and get into more of a public type of situation," he said. "Everybody wants to have that great American sponsor.

"Not saying that Sharpie isn't, but it's kind of odd to be sponsored by a pen."

The actual marketing of Busch isn't much different than it was with Wallace.

"The biggest thing is they're trying to make him more popular," Wallace said. "They're trying to put a positive image out there. Kurt wants that positive image. He doesn't want to be disliked.

"All I can tell you is a beer company would love to have a driver that is real popular."

Clark said Wallace made that point to Busch during a conversation at a Christmas party.

"Kurt realizes it's a real privilege to do what he does, to have the fan base that he has, and the fact that they do care enough to be passionate about whether he was right or wrong [at Phoenix last season]," she said.

"I think that if that's what flashed before his eyes, made him appreciate where he is, the results were positive."

In for the long haul

Busch sat on the back of a truck at Friendship Park on Wednesday, signing autographs for more than 300 kids in the Phoenix area as a part of his community service.

He also provided more than $10,000 in baseball equipment for the Westside Recreational program.

"Several of them [kids] said they were turned onto the sport now that they had somebody to pull for," said Busch's PR representative, Tom Roberts.

Busch wants to have that kind of impact on the sport, not the one he made in November outside PIR. He wants to be more like Wallace, who still does a double-take every time he sees Busch in the Miller Lite uniform.

COMMUNITY SERVICE Kurt Busch began his return to Phoenix International Raceway by completing 50 hours of community service for his reckless driving charge before last November's race.  •   Complete story, click here

"The more that I can model myself after Rusty the better," Busch said

The new image remains a work in progress. Busch still gets teased for occasionally butchering the English language and for having a surgical procedure to pin his ears back.

He still gets boos.

But he's working hard to change opinions, shaking more hands and signing more autographs over the past few months than a political candidate during an election year.

He apparently changed the opinion of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Wednesday while making a public service announcement for safe driving as another part of his community service.

"He was very surprised by my demeanor, how open I was to him with some of his sarcastic jokes about last year," Busch said.

Busch also is happier than at any time in his career, preparing to marry his fiancée, Eva Bryan, during the next open weekend in late July.

The only regret is his place in the standings. He is 17th, down 13 spots from where he was at this time a year ago. He hopes that will change this weekend on a track where he has a victory, two top-fives and four consecutive top-10s in six races.

"Yeah, right now it's all about the company and how I can fit in with them and just find myself,'' said Busch, who will drive without crew chief Roy McCauley. "I'm a race winner and a champion, but I'm definitely here for the long haul.

"Lots of good guys in our sport are viewed as being tough guys, as being the villains. When everything is said and done they seem to come out all right."