The combination not only yielded eight Sprint Cup wins, 17 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes, but also catapulted Busch into a position as one of the top drivers in NASCAR’s premier series and put M&M’s®, one of the sport’s most recognizable brands, back in victory lane.
While many NASCAR observers didn’t know what to expect from Busch and crew chief Steve Addington, it quickly became apparent that the combination would not only be successful, but that 2008 would serve as the breakout season many expected from the talented 23-year old when he joined new sponsor M&M’s® Brand Chocolate Candies and the No. 18 team.
The combination not only yielded eight Sprint Cup wins, 17 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes, but also catapulted Busch into a position as one of the top drivers in NASCAR’s premier series and put M&M’s®, one of the sport’s most recognizable brands, back in victory lane.
Adding to his Sprint Cup success, Busch began to win in seemingly everything he drove. By season’s end, the Las Vegas native had notched 21 victories across NASCAR’s top-three series – Sprint Cup (eight), Nationwide (10) and Camping World Truck (three). Busch bested the previous record by seven wins for most victories overall in a season since the addition of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 1995.
While the 2009 season will mark Busch’s fifth full year competing in Sprint Cup and his second with JGR, his rise from aspiring young racer to the youngest winner in Sprint Cup history took just eight years, when on Sept. 4, 2005, Busch took the checkered flag at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
That win was the culmination of a career that unofficially began at age six when Busch cruised around the cul-de-sac of his family’s Las Vegas residence in a makeshift go-kart. That Busch was too small to reach the throttle didn’t stop him from picking up the basics. His father, Tom, held down the gas pedal while he veered the kart around the block. Once Busch was tall enough to reach the gas pedal on his own, the pace was already set for his future career in motorsports.
Throughout his childhood, Busch spent countless hours as an apprentice to his father, Tom, and older brother, Kurt, in the family garage learning to build and repair race cars. By age 10, Busch was a full-fledged mechanic and served as crew chief on his older brother’s Dwarf car team. In 1998, shortly after his 13th birthday, Busch’s driving career officially began.
Given his young age, schoolwork was always first priority. He was an honor student, but his extra-curricular activities always included a race car. Busch’s parents taught him accountability, meaning if he wanted to race, he was responsible to work on, repair and pay for his own cars. Busch learned early on that carelessness on the track proved costly, resulting in wrecked race cars and not being prepared for the next event. He took pride in his equipment and raced competitors with respect.
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