Kurt Busch was delighted to learn that in GQ magazine’s recent list of America’s 10 most-hated athletes, he ranked third.
Being 27, single and a dapper dresser away from the NASCAR tracks, Busch was gratified by any mention at all in the high-fashion men’s magazine.
“Any press is positive press,” he said, “and you take it from there.”
Then he thought about it. And mock dismay clouded his face.
“I’m ranked No. 3, man! I have a bunch of work to do,” he said.
Why, he had done better than that in the 2005 Daytona 500, finishing second–a lot closer to winner Jeff Gordon at the checkered flag than he was to Terrell Owens in the most-hated rankings.
At both, Busch feels compelled to do better. He gets one chance Sunday in the 48th Daytona 500, his first race for legendary team owner Roger Penske.
Say this for Busch, the Las Vegas kid who grew up hanging out at Caesar’s Palace and currently reigns as the driver NASCAR fans love most to hate: He is competitive.
Even the volatile Tony Stewart has to hand it to Busch. For all of Stewart’s notorious outbursts, “I haven’t been handcuffed,” he conceded here Friday.
Busch had that honor last November near Phoenix International Raceway, courtesy of the notoriously tough Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department. He had taken his over-the-edge NASCAR driving style to the public roads.
Then he spoke, shall we say, with rough condescension to the deputy at the scene.
At first the Arizona lawmen insinuated alcohol involvement, which wasn’t good for Busch’s team of the time, Roush Racing, heavily sponsored by Crown Royal whiskey.
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So team owner Jack Roush suspended–essentially fired–Busch for the last two races of the season, at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami.
Later the sheriff admitted Busch had passed one breath test and that equipment failure precluded a second reading. Busch was exonerated from that part.
And he went from perceived aggressor to victim.
“I’m a little older now,” Busch said. “I’ve aged pretty quickly these past few months.”
Or he has grown up some.
“I think part of it humbled him, and part of it aggravated him,” said his new Penske teammate, Ryan Newman, who at 28 didn’t come close to getting along with his old teammate, the now-retired Rusty Wallace, and welcomes Busch as a kindred spirit on, and over, the edge.
“We’re aggressive in our driving styles; we’re not aggressive in the way we treat other people,” said Newman, meaning teammates, not police officers.
To understand how Busch feels about the thunderous boos, you have to remember what the late Dale Earnhardt said in 1987, when he was NASCAR’s most despised driver, wrecking everybody in his way and winning a lot of races.
“They better be makin’ some kind of noise, or you know you don’t have their attention,” Earnhardt said of the fans, with a ka-ching tone in his voice.
It was entirely appropriate that in Busch’s first Cup race, the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt anointed him with a sort of laying on of hands just hours before Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of that race.
On pit road before the start, Busch tried to pay his respects face-to-face, addressing him as “Mr. Earnhardt.”
Earnhardt shoved him out of the way without a word or a glance.
Early in that race, Busch felt a thud. He looked over and realized Earnhardt has slammed him broadside-to-broadside.
And the first and last living gesture Busch says he ever got from Earnhardt was an extended middle finger through the driver’s-side window net at 190 m.p.h.
Now, after five years of further run-ins on and off the track, he has a fresh start.
“With a new sponsor (Miller Lite), a new car owner, a new team, all the things I’ve been looking forward to are falling into place,” Busch said. “We’re not looking back, that’s for sure.”
No. 3 among most-hated American athletes, No. 2 in the Great American Race . . . and hurtling forward.
Somewhere, Dale Earnhardt had to be giving his smirk of approval.
Ka-ching.
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