NASCAR champion Kyle Busch may be one of the fiercest competitors on the track, but his fans all know he has a soft spot away from the racing surface.
Busch and wife Samantha are well known for interacting with fans, many times, as they are leaving a race, or during a race weekend.
This past Saturday however, two fans got the surprise of their young lives.
Holman Head is a special needs student at Auburn (Ala) High School. Several weeks ago, his lifelong friend Taylor Johnson asked Holman to be her date for homecoming. The two grew up on the same street and their families are close as well.
Taylor said the two friends have shared many happy memories, and she added that one thing she knows about Holman is how much he loves racing. When she asked Holman to homecoming, Taylor dressed as his favorite driver, Kyle Busch. She held a sign that read: “Holman, will you race to homecoming with me?”
Holman, not surprisingly, said yes.
“Holman makes my life better in so many ways,” Taylor said. “He is one of my favorite people. He’s just so selfless, so happy in everything he does. He just sees and gets so much joy out of life.”
Busch saw the story and wanted to do something to make the evening even more memorable. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver sent a short video to the couple:
“Hey Taylor and Holman, Kyle Busch here. I hear that tonight is your homecoming dance,” said Busch. “I also hear that Holman, you’re a pretty big fan so I just wanted to I appreciate that… We are going to send you a Number 18 interstate batteries Toyota Camry to give you two a ride to the homecoming dance.”
He added one more surprise.
“I also think that since we are racing Talladega in a couple of weeks, you two should come out and join us for the race weekend,” Busch said.
NASCAR heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.
“When I saw the video I cried,” Amy Taylor’s mom said. “I just want to say thank you to Kyle Busch for making their dream come true.”
She added that homecoming was a night her son will never forget, thanks in large part to Kyle Busch.
“He is faced with a lot of ‘nevers’ in his life, tonight one of those is scratched off of his list and becomes a reality. He will hit the replay button in his mind over and over again,” Amy said.
“He just means the world to me,” Taylor said. “I could never imagine doing anything different than this right here. I am happy, I could never imagine a better date than him.”
Prior to heading to homecoming Saturday night, as promised a Toyota Camry, complete with driver, festooned like the racecar Kyle Busch competes in, arrived to pick up the couple. Inside were hats signed by Kyle for Holman and Taylor to wear.
The driver wanted to know if Holman wanted to ride in the front, or in the back with Taylor.
“I like to ride with my home girl,” Holman quickly answered.
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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