His second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship now in the record books, it was a relaxed and droll Kyle Busch who took questions from reporters on Wednesday afternoon at the Music City Center.
Aside from seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, Busch is the only active driver with more than one title, and he took the opportunity in his post-championship trip to New York to display both trophies, with the Empire State Building as a backdrop.
“I remembered seeing Jimmie having all of his trophies laid out on the race track when he won seven at Homestead and thought that was really cool and really special,” Busch said. “I asked all the NASCAR folks, ‘So did you guys bring all the replicas down here for that?’ And they were like, ‘No, Jimmie brought all those himself, because they were all his.
“I was like, ‘Damn, the boy believed in himself, I guess.’”
But Busch wasn’t about to tempt fate by bringing the trophy he won in 2015 to Homestead before the final race.
“I was like, I did not bring the Sprint Cup trophy to Homestead, because I am not removing it from wherever the hell it is to bring it and be… I’m not saying Jimmie Johnson is conceited, but, yeah, I would be that. But it was the first time I was able to grab the other trophy and take it with, and New York was our first stop.”
On Tuesday night, Busch dropped the first puck at a Nashville Predators game, one night after not only attending but also participating in WWE Monday Night Raw at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. There, with the aid of some subterfuge from Michael Waltrip, Busch took the 24/7 championship belt from wrestler/rapper R-Truth.
“They heard we were coming and set us up and said, ‘Hey. Do you want to be part of the show?’” said Busch. “Well, all right, sure. What have you got in mind?”
Busch pinned R-Truth on the concrete outside the ring and grabbed the belt. Asked whether he had ever tried the move on brother Kurt Busch, Kyle quipped, “If I could get through (Joey) Logano’s crew, I could do it on him.”
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.
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