Remembering Kyle Busch as NASCAR Bids Farewell to its “Wild Thing”

NASCAR lost one of its legends on Friday, as Kyle Busch passed away at 41 years old.

Like many kids born in the early 2000s, my first introduction to motorsport came through the movie “Cars.” 

I’ve seen that movie more times than I want to admit, and some of my earliest childhood memories involve my parents playing the soundtrack in the car in an effort to get me excited to drive to school.

But the biggest impact “Cars” had on my life was that it introduced me to NASCAR, my very first love in the world of sports. As a result, my Sundays as a kid were often spent in front of the television with my family watching each race.

I was too young to understand the sport’s history, something I gradually learned over time. So when it came time to choose a driver to support, my four-year-old eyes were caught by the car with bright M&Ms on it.

That is how I discovered Kyle Busch. 

Throughout his career, Busch became the winningest driver in NASCAR history, with the two-time Cup Series champion amassing 234 victories across the sport’s three premier racing series.

Story continues below.

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In my early years, when Busch would win a race, I would spend the next week telling family, friends, neighbors and teachers every detail, whether they wanted to hear it or not. As I rode my bike around the block, I would often pretend I was Busch leading a race, with my house serving as the finish line.

Of course, there was the other side of Busch, whose fiery personality both in and out of the car earned him the nicknames of “Rowdy” and “Wild Thing.”

I remember the fights, the feisty radio messages and the subsequent boos that followed whenever he crossed the finish line in first. 

One victory that comes to mind was in 2009, where Busch made headlines after smashing a hand-painted Gibson Les Paul guitar following a Nationwide Series win at Nashville Superspeedway.

“It certainly drew the ire of the fans,” he said after the race. “It is what it is. I thought it was a neat idea to share the guitar with the whole team, in the spirit of rock ’n’ roll: smash it up, bang it up, whatever.”