Kurt Busch takes no joy in seeing younger brother's record fall to Joey Logano
Penske Racing's Kurt Busch is fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after 17 races this season.
// David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch weren’t exactly thrilled to see Joey Logano win last Sunday’s rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
At 19 years, one month and four days old, Logano became the youngest winner in Cup history, taking that distinction from Kyle Busch – his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.
The now 24-year-old Busch was 20 years and just over four months old when he scored his first Cup win at the California track now known as Auto Club Speedway in 2005 while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
“I think it’s very cool that Joey’s been able to win a race,” he said on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, site of Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400. “Unfortunately, he took my record as the youngest winner. I’m sure that he’ll have plenty of more wins down the road before he becomes the age that I was - where I set the record previously. People are probably wondering, do I feel bad about him breaking it under a rain-shortened event? I do, but I don’t.
“I’d like for him to have won it fair and square. I feel like he’ll have plenty of chances to be able to win a fair-and-square race before … the [age] record I had was [set].”
Kurt Busch, who helped usher his younger brother into NASCAR’s top series, also found it kind of hard to see Logano win.
“It was tough to see that record go,” the elder Busch said. “I thought that the Busch brothers put that effort in together with me opening up some of the doors for him and giving him a ride at an early age. He got a ride at the top level so early that [NASCAR] made a rule that said you had to be 18-years-old to compete at the top levels. It was tough. The Busch brothers had that, now Logano does.”
Kurt Busch doesn’t seem very worried though about Logano, who finished 43rd in his lone Daytona Cup start back in February, possibly notching his second victory on Saturday.
“Does he have a good shot at winning this weekend?” Busch asked rhetorically. “I know when I was a rookie that I didn’t have a good shot at winning at restrictor-plate races because that yellow, back bumper [signifying a driver’s rookie status] stands out pretty large and drivers always find some way to get around ‘em.”
