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Kyle Busch knows that in NASCAR, a driver’s legacy is everything.
Facing the ” ‘Rowdy’ can win XFINITY Series races, but will he ever be a Sprint Cup Series champion?” question for much of his career, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver cemented his stature in 2015, capping an improbable championship run with a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November to clinch his first title.
He’s not done yet.
“(Being a champion) is a huge honor to carry on throughout my legacy in the sport but also just to get that monkey off my back with media or people or fans or just in general … always saying, ‘Well, Kyle’s great at winning XFINITY races, but what has he done in Cup?’ … Well, I’ve won plenty in Cup and now I’ve got a championship,” Busch said during last week’s Charlotte Media Tour. ” … Even though there’s one under my belt, there’s plenty more to achieve. We’ll go out there and we’ll fight hard and we’ll make sure we can do that week in and week out and year in and year out.
“… I’m just a fierce competitor that wants to go out there and win races and compete for championships still.”
Busch said he feels “the pressure to win a title is off (his) back” and a “huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders”, so it’ll be interesting to see what the 34-time Cup winner can do on the race track now that he’s officially quieted his doubters.
Especially with an actual, full season of competition under his belt.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, of course, missed 11 races last season while recovering from leg and foot injuries sustained in the season-opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona. Busch isn’t quite 100 percent healed from offseason surgery to remove screws as he’s still dealing with “swelling and scar tissue, but (I have) full range of motion. Just not running.”
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He expects to be at full strength come Daytona, primed and pumped to defend his title with second-year crew chief Adam Stevens.
“For myself and Adam Stevens, what’s better than one championship? Two. What’s better than two? Getting three,” said Busch, 30. “We’ve just got to continue on. There’s going to be one guy different on our team; he’s coming off the road, so we’ve got to move a couple guys around but that’s about it. I’m optimistic and both prepared and excited for a great season and working with Adam again.”
By virtue of being the reigning Cup champion, an added bonus to the many perks of said title is the ability to vote in next year’s NASCAR Hall of Fame balloting process. It’s part of an ever-growing voice that comes along with being at the top of a driver’s class; the best in his or her profession.
That said, Busch still thinks he has a ways to go before that chutzpah translates to the garage.
“As far as carrying stature or having a better or more listened to voice, that’s to grow over time,” he said. “I feel like you get that with a Jimmie Johnson or a Jeff Burton; people listened to Jeff Burton a lot. He’s very vocal and is very smart. We tend to call him ‘The Mayor.’ And he doesn’t have a championship, but we still listen to the guy.
“I don’t know that your weight necessarily changes based off your accomplishments. I think more so it bases off who you are, your personality and what you’re talking about.”
So now that he’s a champion, a father, and NASCAR role model, how has the past year changed him?
“I’m 365 days older,” Busch said. “Past that, I don’t know.”