Last second chance: Kurt Busch needs to make the most of this opportunity
Have you ever done something that you regretted? Have you ever done something and looked back only to realize you've made a huge mistake? Were you ever given a second chance to correct it and make things right? Then, there is that last second chance. A lot of people get a second chance but they blow it.
At some point in time you get to your last second chance, and quite honestly, I think that is where Kurt Busch is right now. He's on his last second chance. I don't know that any of us that ever questioned his ability from the moment he got behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup car. We all knew he was a special talent. He proved us right winning races and then a championship in 2004.
Kurt had everything it took to be a superstar in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He's as talented behind the wheel as anyone I've ever seen. While Kurt has amazing car control that we've seen time and time again, Kurt lacked self-control, something we've unfortunately also seen time and time again.
Issue after issue would always get in the way of what Kurt could do on the racetrack. He'll be the first to admit that the majority of those issues were self-inflicted. Believe me, it has cost him dearly as he left one major ride after another. We all knew that if Kurt could get all those issues behind him and just focus on driving, then he could be a winner.
It took getting knocked down yet again, having to literally start over pretty much at the bottom for Kurt to rise back up. So, Kurt's had a couple second chances already. I think Barney Visser, the owner of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team, gave Kurt a second chance when none of the other owners would touch him.
When Kurt got behind the wheel of that No. 78 car he made the absolute most of it. They had one heck of a run all the way into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase which was simply amazing for a single car team to do. Because of that success, Gene Haas, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing decided to create a fourth team from scratch with Kurt as the driver.
Gene saw the talent in Kurt that all of us had seen. So, Gene hired Kurt to drive the Haas Automation Chevrolet. In a lot of ways I'm not sure co-owner Tony Stewart agreed with that decision at the time. Gene Haas wanted to have a Haas Automation car in Victory Lane and last year at Martinsville Speedway, Kurt gave him exactly that.
Gene believed in Kurt even when Kurt was accused of domestic violence in Delaware Family Court. NASCAR even suspended Kurt on February 20, two days before the 2015 Daytona 500. Then the Delaware Attorney General refused to press charges against Kurt citing lack of evidence.
NASCAR then lifted Kurt's suspension. He climbed back behind the wheel of his No. 41 car at Phoenix, qualified eighth and finished fifth. Kurt hasn't looked back since. Despite missing the first three races of this season, Kurt now has a win, is qualified for the Chase and has made his way up to 18th in the points.
He and his crew chief, Tony Gibson, who was moved over to work with Kurt, have really jelled. Both are old-school type racers. The team has rallied around Kurt as well. They all supported him when he was down earlier this year and Sunday he helped pay them back with a dominating win at Richmond. How dominating? Well, Kurt led 291 of 400 laps. Kurt led more laps Sunday at Richmond than he has ever led in a single race ever.
If you watched any of the post-race interviews, I think you got a really good look at where Kurt is right now in his life. Someone asked him after the race Sunday about having a chip on his shoulder. Kurt replied that while at one point he might have had a chip on his shoulder, that he was now replacing it with the Richmond winner's trophy.
If Kurt will just keep that in mind and focus on his driving, well, the sky is the limit. I think he's in the best place he's ever been in his life. He has owners, a crew chief and a team that believes in him. Week-in and week-out they are giving him bad-fast race cars with support from Hendrick Motorsports.
Kevin Harvick, who is one of Kurt's teammates, is very close with Kurt. They have a similar feel of what they want in a race car. They run similar, if not identical, setups. It just shows on the track ever since Kurt's suspension was lifted. I think things are really jelling well for Kurt, but this is when he has to be the most on guard.
He can't let his guard down. He can't let himself be lulled and letting himself slip back into the old Kurt. When things aren't going well, which we all know will happen to a race car driver, Kurt can't lose his focus. Kurt has to learn to pick his battles. He can't revert back to the way he used to be and blow up at everything and everybody when things don't go his way.
There are going to be days when the car isn't good. You simply can't blast your team or take it out on the media. There are going to be days when someone does you wrong on the track and Kurt has to learn, if he hasn't already, that he has to maintain his cool. Kurt just needs to keep his head down and focus on doing what he's doing right now, going fast and winning races.
All of us have been given second chances. It's what we do with it that counts. A lot of us have been given a last second chance. When you get to that point, well, you better not blow it. I'm so happy for Kurt both personally and professionally. Things couldn't be going better, but it's up to him to help keep it that way.
Who knows where this could lead? I think it could lead to more trips back to Victory Lane this season and maybe even to the head table at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Banquet in Las Vegas at the end of the year.
