Nascar has a long and storied history, but it also has a past littered with “What If?” questions. Join author Mike Mackler as he takes a look back at stock car racing’s 100 most-intriguing hypotheticals in “100 Stock Car Racing ‘What Ifs’”, the book available on Amazon in both Paperback and Kindle formats. Here’s a preview of one of the one hundred “What If” questions asked throughout the book:
74. What if Kyle Busch had signed with Roush Racing?
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| Roush Racing Truck Series drivers Jon Wood and Kyle Busch |
Background: Shortly after Kurt Busch began his Cup Series career, his younger brother Kyle emerged as a serious prospect for future success. With Kurt racing at the time for Roush Racing (later renamed Roush Fenway Racing), a spot for Kyle with Roush’s driver development program made sense.
What Actually Happened: The younger Busch only ran a handful of Truck Series events for Roush Racing before a new age minimum of 18 forced him out of Nascar and into the American Speed Association. When he returned to Nascar, Kyle decided to instead take an offer with Hendrick Motorsports, seeking what he felt was a better contract offer and the chance to succeed out of his brother’s shadow.
What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if Roush Racing had signed Kyle earlier on to a longterm contract, keeping him with the team?
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| The Busch Brothers have pretty much blazed their own paths in Cup |
What COULD Have Happened: Despite Nascar’s reputation as a family-centric sport, very few brothers have raced together on the same team on a regular basis. Whether its the tendency of drivers to want to take out their own identities, or owners’ desire to avoid putting all their eggs in one (family) basket, the Busch Brothers racing together in Cup for Roush would have been a rare event.
And if THAT Happened…: While the opportunity of two young, talented brothers racing together could have been enticing to sponsors, the brash personalties of Kurt and Kyle might have been more of a turnoff than an inducement to fork money over to Roush. Furthermore, Kurt’s eventual departure from Roush Racing would have been made all the more awkward with his brother possibly caught in the middle.
What Else Could Have Happened: While Kyle had a successful run at Hendrick Motorsports, it wasn’t until his arrival at Joe Gibbs Racing that he really came into his own as “Rowdy”, one of the most-successful and polarizing drivers of his age. Such a move may never have happened if Kyle had signed with Roush at first, although oddly enough that would have meant that three future JGR drivers would have been in Roush equipment—Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards.
Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: In the long run, signing with Hendrick Motorsports put Kyle Busch on the path to Nascar superstardom.