Kurt Busch restarts his career with Phoenix Racing (2012)
Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).
Why? Kurt Busch lost his ride with Team Penske after a camera caught a profanity-laced outburst Busch made towards Dr. Jerry Punch. Seeking to restart his career, Kurt moved to Phoenix Racing, a longtime quasi-independent team that had recently gone full-time racing.
How successful were they? Busch had a heroic run in the 51 car at Sonoma, nearly winning the race before falling to third. However, Busch struggled both in and out of the car the rest of the year, finishing mid-pack most of the time and missing the Pocono race after threatening a reporter the previous week at Dover.
What was the aftermath? Busch left for another semi-independent team, Furniture Row Racing, for the final five races of the 2012 season. He would fully-revitalize his career at Stewart-Haas Racing, but controversy would continue to dog him even past retirement. Phoenix Racing (which notably ran a huge smiley face on the hood after Busch left the team) would last one more year before being sold to Harry Scott.
Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 6 laughably bad documentaries out of 10—while it IS strange to see a former champion go from one of the sport’s top teams to an also-ran, it WAS Kurt Busch.
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A MOXOC Media production