Uber driver, and Kyle Busch hater, has an encounter with Kyle Busch himself and it’s epic

(MLive.com)

Plenty of people make a decent fulltime or part time living using their personal cars to take others where they need to go.  George Berridge is one of those.

Berridge drives for Uber, and he’s also a big time NASCAR fan.  He’s worked on racecars including helping out Lee Anderson who raced Late Models from 2003-2007.

However, while he is a NASCAR fan, Berridge is far from a fan of NASCAR champion Kyle Busch.

Imagine his surprise then when he took a fare from a customer named Kyle Monday night. According to the Michigan Live website that customer, Kyle, needed to be picked up at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids Michigan.

Imagine his surprise when that ‘Kyle’ turned out to be ‘that’ Kyle Busch, as in NASCAR Champion Kyle Busch.   Kyle, who finished fourth at Michigan International Speedway Sunday, needed a ride to Berlin Raceway, where the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was entered into Monday night’s ARCA/CRA Super Late Model Series Money in the Bank 150.

Busch is one of NASCAR’s most talked about drivers; fans either love him of hate him. Berridge is on the side of that fan base, and not wanting to miss an opportunity, he did a bit of trash talking to Busch.

“I yelled, ‘Rowdy Busch,'” said Berridge. “He said, ‘Yeah, that’s me.’ And then I told him, ‘Are you ready to get your ass kicked tonight?’

“He said, ‘Dude, my Uber driver is going to start the ride like this? Seriously?’ It was epic. I looked down and saw the name Kyle on my phone and said, ‘Oh, man.’ That wasn’t a very good way to start the ride.”

“I told him, ‘I’m just messing with you,'” Berridge added. “He said not a problem.”

Berridge delivered his passenger to Berlin Raceway, where Busch would end up third after leading 114 of the first 115 laps.

The encounter however, left Berridge with a different opinion of the 2015 Cup champion.

“It was really cool to talk to Kyle,” Berridge said. “I told him when I see you racing in some of the Xfinity races, I don’t know how you can come from 20th to the lead in five laps. You make those cars do what no one else can do. Your talent is unbelievable.

“To go and be able to talk to a NASCAR champion, yes, my opinion has changed. I will always think he is a cry baby, but that just goes to show his competitive nature. He is not out there for a paycheck. He is out there to win races. His Late Model racing is a prime example of that.”

Berridge asked Busch to pose for a selfie before his passenger left the backseat. Busch of course, agreed.

“My wife couldn’t believe it,” Berridge said. “I had a really hard time asking Kyle for a picture, especially after asking him if he was ready to get his butt kicked.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.