Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I'm still absolutely stunned at the tragic news involving Kyle Busch. As a small tribute, I look back to Kyle's first foray into the NASCAR national scene. Kurt Busch was already at Winston Cup by 2001. His younger brother Kyle was still coming up through the ranks as a late model stock car driver at Las Vegas. He received an opportunity to drive the #99 Eldon Ford for Roush Racing starting at the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The #99 team went through a rotation of drivers in 2001, including bringing back Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch to take a couple of turns behind the wheel.
It was quickly realized after this race that Kyle was a special talent. He became one of the youngest drivers to start a NASCAR national series race at 16 years, 3 months. He was fast in practice and qualified 23rd, but crashed and had to start at the back. He quickly moved up through the field. He kept his night quiet for the most part and finished 9th, a remarkable top 10 for a 16-year-old making his first NASCAR start.
Kyle would start 5 more races, finishing in the top 10 again at Las Vegas. Unfortunately, due to Marlboro sponsoring the Marlboro 500 CART race at California Speedway, Kyle was barred from competing in the Auto Club 200 truck series companion race. A couple of weeks later, NASCAR created the rule that you have to be 18 years old or older to compete in NASCAR's top 3 divisions. That rule has been changed since 2001.
As we all know, this put Kyle in the trajectory to go over to Hendrick Motorsports to begin his Busch Series and Cup career. It is still so shocking that Kyle is no longer with us.
Race uploaded by Michael McIntyre. Video is for awareness purposes only. All credit to NASCAR and ESPN.
I'm still absolutely stunned at the tragic news involving Kyle Busch. As a small tribute, I look back to Kyle's first foray into the NASCAR national scene. Kurt Busch was already at Winston Cup by 2001. His younger brother Kyle was still coming up through the ranks as a late model stock car driver at Las Vegas. He received an opportunity to drive the #99 Eldon Ford for Roush Racing starting at the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The #99 team went through a rotation of drivers in 2001, including bringing back Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch to take a couple of turns behind the wheel.
It was quickly realized after this race that Kyle was a special talent. He became one of the youngest drivers to start a NASCAR national series race at 16 years, 3 months. He was fast in practice and qualified 23rd, but crashed and had to start at the back. He quickly moved up through the field. He kept his night quiet for the most part and finished 9th, a remarkable top 10 for a 16-year-old making his first NASCAR start.
Kyle would start 5 more races, finishing in the top 10 again at Las Vegas. Unfortunately, due to Marlboro sponsoring the Marlboro 500 CART race at California Speedway, Kyle was barred from competing in the Auto Club 200 truck series companion race. A couple of weeks later, NASCAR created the rule that you have to be 18 years old or older to compete in NASCAR's top 3 divisions. That rule has been changed since 2001.
As we all know, this put Kyle in the trajectory to go over to Hendrick Motorsports to begin his Busch Series and Cup career. It is still so shocking that Kyle is no longer with us.
Race uploaded by Michael McIntyre. Video is for awareness purposes only. All credit to NASCAR and ESPN.
