Kurt Busch#2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger
Penske Racing
Starts (as of 3/11/09): 296
Wins: 19
Top 5s: 63
Top 10s: 118
Poles: 10
Kurt Busch, like his brother Kyle, was born in Las Vegas, NV, and raced in the same circuits Kyle did while growing up. Kurt was born August 5, 1978, and has become overshadowed by his younger brother, despite Kurt himself already having a Cup Series championship under his belt. Kurt Busch used to be a huge dickhead like his brother but has recently mellowed, possibly due to getting punched in the face by Jimmy Spencer, getting suspended by Roush during his last two races in the #97, and his marriage to Eva Bryan.
2000
Kurt Busch started in the Truck Series but found himself in the #97 John Deere Ford with Roush for seven races in 2000, preparing his way for his rookie season in 2001. He had decent success in his seven starts, finishing in the top 20 three times and finishing no lower than 37th. John Deere would not stay with Busch for his rookie season...
2001
As a rookie, Kurt Busch did not fare so well. First of all, he was without a sponsor for the first seven races of the season until Sharpie eventually signed on, a relationship that lasted for the rest of his tenure at Roush Racing via the Newell Rubbermaid company. 2001 was a struggle as Busch recorded only three top 5s, 6 top 10s to go along with a pole. A low point came in his season when he failed to qualify for the second to last race of the season, at Atlanta, and finished 27th in points, losing rookie of the year honors to Kevin Harvick.
His Sharpie paint scheme uses the idea of a Sharpie marker drawing all over his car, perfectly blending his sponsor with the paint scheme.
2002
If 2001 was a struggle, 2002 was by far the opposite. Rubbermaid relegated Sharpie to just one of many products owned by Rubbermaid and became the primary sponsor. It was also the year of Kurt Busch's first Cup Series wins, which would also be his first of five wins at Bristol. He would go on to win back-to-back races at Martinsville and Atlanta and then win from the pole at the season ender in Homestead, recording four wins for the season. He saw himself finishing in the top 5 12 times and in the top 10 20 times. His final points standings was an amazing 24 point swing from 2001 as he finished third in points, behind only Tony Stewart and Mark Martin.
2003
While he matched his wins from the previous year - sweeping Bristol and also winning at sister tracks California and Michigan - he would not fare as well in 2003. With only nine top 5s and 14 top 10s, he finished 11th in points. However, his new uniquely colored silver and red Rubbermaid Ford would go down in history with its involvement in the closest electronically scored finish in NASCAR history, losing to Ricky Craven at Darlington by only .002 seconds.
2004
The beginning of the Nextel Cup era was kind to Kurt Busch. Rubbermaid decided to go for a split sponsorship between its Sharpie (and its playful scribble paint scheme) and Irwin Tools (with its boring plain blue paint scheme) brands. 2004 was definately a career year for Kurt, even though he recorded one less win than the previous two years. He won yet again at Bristol for his fourth career win there and swept at New Hampshire. With the first Chase lineup in NASCAR, Kurt Busch was not considered the favorite to win the championship. However, he went on to record top ten finishes in all but one of the Chase races. The one race he didn't finish was a 42nd place finish at Atlanta, which bunched up the points standings. Kurt Busch was also prevented from a 43rd place finish by none other than his little brother Kyle, who DNFed in 43rd. For the season ender at Homestead, a horseshoe was shoved up his ass. He not only won the pole, but he somehow got incredibly lucky when his entire wheel came off his car while heading for pit road during the green flag, causing a caution to come out. If it weren't for the wheel coming off, his unscheduled pit stop would have sent him a lap down. He also missed hitting the pit road wall by inches. He ended up winning the championship by only eight points over Jimmie Johnson and 16 points over Jeff Gordon, the closest finish in NASCAR history. Kurt Busch recorded ten top 5s and 21 top 10s in his championship year.
2005
Kurt Busch followed his championship year with much promise but an announcement during 2005 shocked all of NASCAR: He would leave Roush Racing at the end of the 2005 to replace a retiring Rusty Wallace in the famous Blue Deuce. With everybody questioning his reasoning for leaving a team that had just won a championship, he won three more races - at Phoenix, Pocono, and Richmond - and finished in the top 5 nine times and the top 10 18 times. He also made the Chase for the second year in a row. However, a run-in with the police while the Series was in Phoenix allowed Roush to make his excuse to dump the driver who decided to leave him. Kurt Busch was suspended by Roush Racing for the final two races of the season and was replaced by Kenny Wallace for those two races. Kurt Busch still finished in the top ten - in 10th - thanks to the Chase which did not allow anybody outside the top ten to finish higher than 11th.
For some reason, Sharpie removed its scribbles from the paint scheme this year and Irwin Tools went to a lighter shade of blue.
2006-2007
The learning curve in his new ride proved to be troublesome. 2006 was almost as trying as his rookie year, especially since he had won the championship two years prior. His lone win that year came at Bristol, but he had a career high six poles that year to show the speed the car had. He did not fare as well as he hoped, though, with only seven top 5s and 12 top 10s. He also missed the Chase and finished way off the mark in 16th. Rather amusingly, he finished the season the way he started: with a crash resulting in a DNF.
2007 was a little bit better for Kurt Busch in the #2 Dodge. Even though he had one less top 5 (6) and two more top 10s (14) than the previous year, he won two races and made the Chase. His wins came at Pocono and Michigan and he finished 7th in the points standings.
2008-2009
But his comeback in 2007 did not last. 2008 was a struggle for Kurt Busch, his lone win coming not from his performance on the track but from gambling in the pits with the oncoming rain, winning a rain shortened race at New Hampshire. He recorded a miserable five top 5s and ten top 10s and finished 18th in the final points standings. Many thought Kurt Busch's time was up.
But so far in 2009 he's proving his critics wrong. After only four races into the season, he already has two top 5s, three top 10s, and a dominating win at Atlanta. He also currently sits third in points, behind Jeff Gordon and a surprising Clint Bowyer (he seems to surprise a lot). He could have had four top 10s, after having a strong car at Las Vegas, but a pesky engine cylinder stunted his run.
As for his paint scheme, nothing much changed except for the new car and the replacement of the white along the bottom trim with a lighter shade of blue.
2000
Kurt Busch started in the Truck Series but found himself in the #97 John Deere Ford with Roush for seven races in 2000, preparing his way for his rookie season in 2001. He had decent success in his seven starts, finishing in the top 20 three times and finishing no lower than 37th. John Deere would not stay with Busch for his rookie season...
2001
As a rookie, Kurt Busch did not fare so well. First of all, he was without a sponsor for the first seven races of the season until Sharpie eventually signed on, a relationship that lasted for the rest of his tenure at Roush Racing via the Newell Rubbermaid company. 2001 was a struggle as Busch recorded only three top 5s, 6 top 10s to go along with a pole. A low point came in his season when he failed to qualify for the second to last race of the season, at Atlanta, and finished 27th in points, losing rookie of the year honors to Kevin Harvick.
His Sharpie paint scheme uses the idea of a Sharpie marker drawing all over his car, perfectly blending his sponsor with the paint scheme.
2002
If 2001 was a struggle, 2002 was by far the opposite. Rubbermaid relegated Sharpie to just one of many products owned by Rubbermaid and became the primary sponsor. It was also the year of Kurt Busch's first Cup Series wins, which would also be his first of five wins at Bristol. He would go on to win back-to-back races at Martinsville and Atlanta and then win from the pole at the season ender in Homestead, recording four wins for the season. He saw himself finishing in the top 5 12 times and in the top 10 20 times. His final points standings was an amazing 24 point swing from 2001 as he finished third in points, behind only Tony Stewart and Mark Martin.
2003
While he matched his wins from the previous year - sweeping Bristol and also winning at sister tracks California and Michigan - he would not fare as well in 2003. With only nine top 5s and 14 top 10s, he finished 11th in points. However, his new uniquely colored silver and red Rubbermaid Ford would go down in history with its involvement in the closest electronically scored finish in NASCAR history, losing to Ricky Craven at Darlington by only .002 seconds.
2004
The beginning of the Nextel Cup era was kind to Kurt Busch. Rubbermaid decided to go for a split sponsorship between its Sharpie (and its playful scribble paint scheme) and Irwin Tools (with its boring plain blue paint scheme) brands. 2004 was definately a career year for Kurt, even though he recorded one less win than the previous two years. He won yet again at Bristol for his fourth career win there and swept at New Hampshire. With the first Chase lineup in NASCAR, Kurt Busch was not considered the favorite to win the championship. However, he went on to record top ten finishes in all but one of the Chase races. The one race he didn't finish was a 42nd place finish at Atlanta, which bunched up the points standings. Kurt Busch was also prevented from a 43rd place finish by none other than his little brother Kyle, who DNFed in 43rd. For the season ender at Homestead, a horseshoe was shoved up his ass. He not only won the pole, but he somehow got incredibly lucky when his entire wheel came off his car while heading for pit road during the green flag, causing a caution to come out. If it weren't for the wheel coming off, his unscheduled pit stop would have sent him a lap down. He also missed hitting the pit road wall by inches. He ended up winning the championship by only eight points over Jimmie Johnson and 16 points over Jeff Gordon, the closest finish in NASCAR history. Kurt Busch recorded ten top 5s and 21 top 10s in his championship year.
2005
Kurt Busch followed his championship year with much promise but an announcement during 2005 shocked all of NASCAR: He would leave Roush Racing at the end of the 2005 to replace a retiring Rusty Wallace in the famous Blue Deuce. With everybody questioning his reasoning for leaving a team that had just won a championship, he won three more races - at Phoenix, Pocono, and Richmond - and finished in the top 5 nine times and the top 10 18 times. He also made the Chase for the second year in a row. However, a run-in with the police while the Series was in Phoenix allowed Roush to make his excuse to dump the driver who decided to leave him. Kurt Busch was suspended by Roush Racing for the final two races of the season and was replaced by Kenny Wallace for those two races. Kurt Busch still finished in the top ten - in 10th - thanks to the Chase which did not allow anybody outside the top ten to finish higher than 11th.
For some reason, Sharpie removed its scribbles from the paint scheme this year and Irwin Tools went to a lighter shade of blue.
2006-2007
The learning curve in his new ride proved to be troublesome. 2006 was almost as trying as his rookie year, especially since he had won the championship two years prior. His lone win that year came at Bristol, but he had a career high six poles that year to show the speed the car had. He did not fare as well as he hoped, though, with only seven top 5s and 12 top 10s. He also missed the Chase and finished way off the mark in 16th. Rather amusingly, he finished the season the way he started: with a crash resulting in a DNF.
2007 was a little bit better for Kurt Busch in the #2 Dodge. Even though he had one less top 5 (6) and two more top 10s (14) than the previous year, he won two races and made the Chase. His wins came at Pocono and Michigan and he finished 7th in the points standings.
2008-2009
But his comeback in 2007 did not last. 2008 was a struggle for Kurt Busch, his lone win coming not from his performance on the track but from gambling in the pits with the oncoming rain, winning a rain shortened race at New Hampshire. He recorded a miserable five top 5s and ten top 10s and finished 18th in the final points standings. Many thought Kurt Busch's time was up.
But so far in 2009 he's proving his critics wrong. After only four races into the season, he already has two top 5s, three top 10s, and a dominating win at Atlanta. He also currently sits third in points, behind Jeff Gordon and a surprising Clint Bowyer (he seems to surprise a lot). He could have had four top 10s, after having a strong car at Las Vegas, but a pesky engine cylinder stunted his run.
As for his paint scheme, nothing much changed except for the new car and the replacement of the white along the bottom trim with a lighter shade of blue.
Notable Special Schemes
2002 Little TykesRubbermaid promoted its toddler toy line with a win at Homestead.
2004 Coca-Cola C2Coca-Cola invaded the Pepsi 400 at Daytona with special Coca-Cola C2 paint schemes for all of its Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers.
2004 SupermanDC Comics and a few of the Ford teams joined together to promote the superheroes of the comic books at Michigan. Kurt Busch ran the Superman scheme.
2005 Crown RoyalCrown Royal began to pop up on the #97 (soon to be #26) in numerous races in 2005.
2005 Smirnoff IceSmirnoff Ice jumped from the #17 to the #97.
2007 World Beer CupGold paint scheme to congratulate Miller Lite on its World Beer Cup win. Used in the Bud Shootout.
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