Q: Can you talk about some of your rivals? You were the last guy left in the Cup field that raced with Dale Earnhardt Sr. What was he like?
KC: I would say Dale Senior was the Intimidator. 100% He lit me up after I wrecked his son Dale Jr. at Rockingham one year. He would just race me to the bone, and 18th place at Homestead at the very next race. I was like, “Your race car is way faster. Just go ahead.” I literally had to pull over on the back straightaway and let him go by. And then he’s back up and try to mess with me again.
He was fun. I wish we could have hashed all that out. Dale Jr. and I did over time. We’d talk about things. Guys like Jimmy Spencer, where he wrecked me about three or four different times and I never spun him out, and yet fans all stick on that he was my biggest rival. It’s like, ‘He’s got two wins and I have 34…’ Jimmy and I had to kind of bury the hatchet. On some days with guys like Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick, there was the big rub of the elbows, but nothing big. I think Jimmie Johnson and I had a couple of run-ins during his five Cup championships in a row.
Q: How about Tony Stewart?
KB: Yep, and then there is Tony Stewart. We battled against each other in the Car of Tomorrow. That’s what sparked our rivalry. We both hated the car and then each other for a while. And then over time, now I’m racing for the guy. We’re racing together. And so that helps us have that bond.
I feel like there has been good and there has been bad. I mean, even my little brother, we didn’t talk for a while after an All-Star race in 2007. What’s amazing to me is that we have four finishes of first-second. And I have almost 800 starts, he’s got over 600 starts. There’s only four finishes of us one and two. And I’ve got two wins. He’s got two wins. We’re 50/50 And so that’s a good sibling rivalry.
Q: What does Kyle make of your retirement?
KB: Kyle’s been very supportive and understands age is a tough thing to battle and the amount of time that I’ve been racing since I was 16 years old. Now it’s basically like Kyle saying, “Hey, now we’ve got [Kyle’s son] Brexton. Be an uncle and take care of Brexton.”
Of course, that’s the next step for the Busch family, to have Kyle continue to grow and blossom at RCR and to create opportunities for Brexton to be able to go wherever he wants to go and what he thinks he wants to challenge himself with. And that’s where I can be another set of eyes and hands to help him out.
Q: How did you feel about the fans all along the way? There was a bit of good and bad with that, too.
KB: Early on, with the fans, it was it was tougher, and everything just seemed to kind of smooth out and find its rhythm through the middle part of my career and driving the iconic Miller Light car after Rusty Wallace retired. There was the transitioning from a couple teams like Phoenix Racing and Furniture Row Racing. There was Stewart-Haas. It just all seemed to have good ups and downs, and it’s been incredible because I think fans have really seen the true character of me on social media, versus what a writer for Autoweek might post, or another writer that that I might have flipped the middle finger to back in the younger part of my career. If I had 800 starts, and I messed up 10 of those, those 10 races don’t need to be the final story. There’s the 790 that we can all enjoy.
Q: Who were a few of your rivals that you really enjoyed racing against?
KB: Juan Pablo Montoya was one of my favorites with his background and his prowess with the road course races. Marcos Ambrose was also a great guy to race against. The international flair and the times I ran Indy and the times I raced in NHRA, I really enjoyed the racing against those guys. In NASCAR, it was my teammates that you had to respect, but also want to make sure you finish ahead of just to keep your job. Guys like Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and all those were top teammates of mine that I respected so much, but also want to make sure that I kicked their tail each week.
Q: Was there ever a guy that you enjoyed beating more than anybody else?
KB: Kyle Busch.
Q: How were you guys with each other along the way?
KB: Yeah, it’s had its ebbs and flows. There’s been a great moments. There have been a tough moments. There’s been blaming. There’s been misunderstandings. And at the end of the day though, age has conquered us both and there’s the respect for how all of this unfolded, and I’m so proud of Kyle for being a great dad, great husband, and handling all the things he is with Braxton and Samantha and running Kyle Busch Motorsports. He’s doing a ton more in the motorsports world than I ever would have thought that we could have achieved. He did it and so I’m very proud of him.
Q: Are you okay with how it’s all ended?
KB: I’m very happy. I have enjoyed the ride. Very blessed and privileged to have this opportunity. Just again, my dad, my mom and Kyle, myself and our family, we were digging hard out of Vegas. This has all been a dream come true.