JGR driver discusses how baby’s name was picked, if he would let Brexton race
RELATED: Kyle, Samantha Busch welcome baby boy | Keselowski, Paige White have baby girl
CONCORD, N.C. — The sight of Kyle Busch riding a neon green motorized cooler into the media center on Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway had some folks chuckling, but the new dad smiled as he made a sharp left turn and quickly ascended onto the front stage.
The scene had “cool dad” written all over it, but Busch was perched on top of the plastic vehicle in order to rest his legs as he continues his comeback from injuries sustained in the NASCAR XFINITY Series season opener at Daytona.
Busch returned to action last week in the Sprint All-Star Race, finishing sixth. Then, he and wife Samantha welcomed son Brexton Locke into the world on Monday.
To say the least, it has been quite a busy week for the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and now he is prepping for Sunday’s ultimate endurance race, the Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).
Despite his claims of some lost sleep, Busch was alert and more than happy to discuss the birth of his son.
On what has changed since Monday, Kyle said:
“It’s way different than what it was before he was born. Obviously, Samantha was taking care of him. She had him in her so just taking care of him that way and carrying him around (laughter).
“I didn’t have to worry about anything. I didn’t have to feed him, I didn’t have to change him or nothing like that, but it’s a whole different world now that he’s here with having to take care of him so we both have to spread our time. Obviously, when his favorite thing to do is make stinky diapers, then you’ve certainly got your work cut out for you.”
On his wife Samantha, Kyle said:
“It was emotional and physically taxing on me, I couldn’t imagine what Samantha was going through. Obviously, I was there and trying to help her and coach her and be with her the entire time and she did phenomenal. … She’s a champ. Samantha is my champion. No matter how well or successful I ever am in my career, she’s got the championship trophy on her mantle.”
On how he and Samantha picked the name:
“Samantha and I, we were back-and-forth a lot on names. We kind of tried to figure out whether we wanted to keep the initials K.B. or not, and we decided not to. I kind of liked her maiden name (Samantha Sarcinella), the S.S., so we decided we’d go with the B.B. So then we just started looking up some B names and put the pieces together and kind of made it up. It’s pretty cool that we both agreed on it.”
On whether he wants his son to follow in his footsteps:
“Whether he follows in my footsteps or not that’s totally up to him. Brexton one day will be his own person and his own individual. If he wants to be a golfer, by golly we’ll help him be a golfer. If he wants to be a racecar driver like his daddy, more power to him. We’ll give him the best stuff we possibly can. He’ll only make it here if he wins races, that’s my stipulation. He won’t make it here if he ain’t any good. I’ll quit spending money on him long before that. Toyota might not, but I will (laughs).”
MORE: If Busch and Keselowski exchanged texts about fatherhood …
On whether he’d allow his son to go to the prom with Brad Keselowski‘s daughter, also born this week:
“(Brad and I) obviously don’t have a relationship and may or may not ever, but that’s to be seen down the road. We live two completely different lives right now — and you know — we’ll take care of our son the best we can and put him in the best situations we can. But if for some reason, he feels like he needs to chase down Brad’s daughter, then have at it, bud (laughter).”
And shortly after that zinger, Busch rode his motorized cooler out the back door and off to the garage.