Kyle Busch thought his racing career was over immediately after crashing his NASCAR Xfinity car February 21 at Daytona International Speedway. Busch met with the media Wednesday for the first time since the crash that broke his right leg and left foot. Speaking at Joe Gibbs Racing headquarters in Huntersville North Carolina, Busch said at the moment he first began to climb from his wrecked racecar and sat on the window sill, he thought his racing career was over, thinking to himself “I’m done”. He knew his leg was broken and had to physically pull it from the wreckage. Only later when he got assurances from doctors that he would be just fine, died know that he will race again.
In the accident Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota shot across a paved area entering turn 1 then a grassy area before rocketing into an inside wall head first. Busch could be seen trying to climb from the car as rescue crews got to him. After a few moments he finished climbing from the car with assistance from rescue workers. He then slowly went down prone onto the grass. He remained there for nearly 10 minutes as rescue workers stabilized him on a stretcher.
Wednesday using a video replay of the accident, Busch walked though nearly every frame of video saying he remembered every single moment. Busch said that “all the air left his body” when he made contact with the concrete wall; he left the track doing 172 miles per hour and was doing 90 mph when he hit. According to Busch the impact was 90gs. He said he sat in the car for a moment knowing he was hurt but wanting to try and to gather himself before he got out. A small flash fire erupted in the cockpit forcing him to try and scramble from the car. MORE>>>
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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