After his own crash, Kyle Busch takes particular note of safety issues

SPARTA, KY - JULY 10: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&;M's Crispy Toyota, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway on July 10, 2015 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
SPARTA, KY - JULY 10:  Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&;M's Crispy Toyota, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway on July 10, 2015 in Sparta, Kentucky.  (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
SPARTA, KY – JULY 10: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&;M’s Crispy Toyota, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway on July 10, 2015 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)

SPARTA, Ky. – If any driver in the NASCAR garage has reason to pay close attention to safety issues, Kyle Busch is at the top of the list.

Busch was sidelined for 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races after breaking his right leg and left foot in an accident during the XFINITY Series race on Feb. 21 at Daytona International Speedway.

And though Busch participated in Thursday night’s UNOH 225 Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway as a truck owner and not a driver, Ben Kennedy’s contact with the catchfence and SAFER barrier in the closing laps of the event gave him cause to reflect.

Fortunately, the fence prevented Kennedy’s truck from reaching the grandstand, just as the fencing had done early Monday morning, when Austin Dillon’s Chevrolet was launched into the containment barrier on the final lap of the Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona.

Busch took note of both incidents.

“As far as the catch fence and everything, I’m glad they’re there, and I’m glad they’re doing their job keeping the race cars or trucks on the race track,” Busch said on Friday at Kentucky Speedway. “It’s a dangerous sport – we live it every day. Sometimes we take it for granted because of all the safety advancements we’ve gotten over the years that we feel invincible, but certainly it’s a rare inopportune times that you can put yourself in a situation to get hurt.

“We saw it in Daytona with myself, and saw it in Daytona again with Austin Dillon and we probably saw it again last night, among other times. Those times just seem to be the most severe or scary crashes we see.”

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.