Kyle Busch is a young man in search of his own identity. Although only 17 years old, Busch has spent much of his racing career in the footsteps of his successful older brother, Kurt, who enters his third Winston Cup season with Roush Racing. Kyle, too, was expected to join Roush, but NASCAR’s adoption of a minimum-age requirement prior to the 2002 season disrupted his plans. Instead of running his first full season in NASCAR’s Truck series last year, Kyle moved to the America Speed Association. He was still expected to rejoin Roush following his 18th birthday in May, but earlier this month he surprised the NASCAR community by announcing he would immediately join Hendrick Motorsports. “Basically, it was a decision I had to make on my own,” said Kyle, who has been acclimating himself with the Hendrick organization during Speedweeks at Daytona. “We talked to Kurt about it,” Kyle Busch said, “and he kind of stepped back away into the closet and didn’t want anything to do with it. He said, ‘It’s your decision, it’s your career. You are either going to help it or hurt it.’ ” Kyle decided he would make the change for two reasons – to establish himself as a driver on his own terms and the ability to do so on a faster timetable. “I needed to step out of the shadow of Kurt and say, ‘Hey, I’m my own person out here. I’m Kyle Busch.’ Everything Kurt has ever driven, I’ve followed his steps right into that car,” Kyle said. “It was kind of like Kurt was leading my way and I was going to follow him up into a Roush Cup car. I need to be own person and make my own way and show everybody that I can drive.” The best way Kyle knew how to accomplish that goal was to get in a car as soon as possible. Roush wanted Kyle to sign a nine-year contract that would put him in Trucks for two to three seasons. Hendrick offered him a chance to run a limited Busch schedule this season and full time in 2004. “At Hendrick, in 2004 I’ll be in the Busch series and at Roush in 2006 I’d still be in the Trucks,” he said. “It’s an exciting time frame to look at.”(ThatsRacin.com) also see at Kyle Busch Q&A there.(2-14-2003)
