Kurt Busch At Awards Ceremony From TR

kat2220

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Posted on Sat, Dec. 03, 2005



Humbled Busch on hand for season-ending ceremonies

By JENNA FRYER

The Associated Press


NEW YORK CITY - It took two quiet weekends out of a race car for Kurt Busch to realize he needed an attitude adjustment.
Now that he's accepted it, NASCAR's most polarizing driver has an even bigger challenge ahead of him: Convincing people he can change.

Busch was a full participant in Thursday's and Friday's season-ending activities, dismissing all speculation that he would be excluded from NASCAR's festivities following the controversial close to his championship reign. He was suspended by his former team for the final two races of the year after a run-in with Phoenix police.

Although he was only charged with reckless driving - reports that he was drunk were proven false when police said his blood alcohol limit was well below the legal limit - Busch was lambasted for his belligerent attitude toward the officers.

It cost him his reputation and much of the respect he had been working hard to earn across the garage.

Clearly contrite, Busch says he's eager to move on.

"Everybody has a circumstance that comes up in life where you want to press the reset button, and this is one of those," Busch said. "What has to happen is the real me has to come out. The fans have to get to know the real Kurt Busch better.

"I think you will see a difference. It's just going to take time, like everything does."

Busch undoubtedly has a lot of work to do in repairing his image.

A talented driver with 14 victories and one Nextel Cup championship, Busch has struggled to make many friends or fans during his five seasons. He's viewed as ****y and arrogant, and disrespectful of the veterans who helped build the sport. He was once even punched in the nose by Jimmy Spencer, then was booed by fans a week later while Spencer was celebrated.

Busch made enemies with his employers by announcing midseason that he wanted to leave Roush Racing to drive for Roger Penske. The contract he signed was for 2007, but Busch made it clear he wanted out a year earlier.

Jack Roush was furious - he discovered Busch, after all, and gave him his big break - and the relationship between the two deteriorated to the point where they weren't even speaking over the final month of the season.

So when Busch was stopped by police on the Friday night before the Nov. 13 race in Phoenix, it gave Roush the opportunity to have the last laugh. He kicked Busch out of his car and used every chance he had to rip the driver publicly.

"He's an extraordinary talent, but he's really had trouble dealing with the realities of normal social behavior," Roush said in one of his many criticisms.

Busch chose to take the high road Thursday when asked about Roush, and indicated he would reflect upon his accomplishments with the team in his Friday night speech.

"I think we've had a great career together," he said. "I'll leave with my head high and pride that I developed in that No. 97."

But he was clear he's ready to start anew at Penske Racing, where he will replace retiring Rusty Wallace. There's a general belief that if anyone can help Busch improve his image it's Penske, a patient owner with a knack for calming unruly drivers.

"Roger feels as though he can help Kurt Busch off the race track with the media and the public perception," Wallace said. "He's confident that he can talk to him and help him smooth some of those things out. I feel like if there's anybody who can do it, it's Roger."

Wallace is also one of the many drivers suddenly showing support for Busch. Roush teammate Greg Biffle has been vocal in his belief that Busch was treated unfairly in the fallout of the Phoenix arrest, as has new series champion Tony Stewart, who pulled him aside to offer advice.

Now Wallace, who has turned the keys to his famed No. 2 Dodge over to Busch, has extended his own offer of help to Busch.

"I don't think Kurt Busch has got as many problems as people think he's got," Wallace said. "I think that stuff is way overblown. He's just a hard-core driver that does things in a different way.

"We've just got to get him to do things in a more acceptable way, and if I can help him, I will."

This humbled version of Busch will likely take him up on his offer.

"Once we get through all this, it's going to be a lesson learned for me," Busch said. "It will be great to turn over a new leaf next season."
 
The real Kurt Busch has already been seen. Anything beyond this point is a makeover and false image of a disguised personna.

Kurt had the opportuniy to change after the confrontation with Spencer. He did, up to a point BUT slipped back into his own personality shortly before becoming 2005 NASCAR champion.

Some will choose to compare Kurt's makeover to Tony Stewart but in the case of Stewart, Tony did show he was not the type of anal opening he personified early on in his NASCAR career. Stewart showed he did care and he did have a sense of humor and he was charitable and he could be considerate and respectful. Stewart overcame thirty years of being catered too and not knowing what he really wanted until he realized his desire for the simple life he had in Indiana and not the highly charged celebrity commotion constantly accompanying a star of his calibre and living in Charlotte, the second major city in North Carolina.

No, Kurt will change, it will all be false and sooner or later, Busch will slip back into his prima donna, arrogant and disrespectful mannerisms. Penske might try to control Kurt and his public image, it the real Kurt Busch but it will never be far from the surface and ready to rear its head, yet once again.

Before any of you get all wadded up, this poster has been wrong and if this opinion re: Kurt Busch and his deportment are incorrect, a public apology to Kurt and his fans or those who are distressed by this post, will be made. The last time my opinion became invalid was after opining the United States would never again see gas prices below two dollars a gallon. In NC they are at $1.99. I screwed up !!!!!!!
 
I found him wooden, trying too hard, and obviously uncomfortable. I doubted his sincerity and "humility".
Will there be a change in "real life"? I doubt it, but I've been wrong before.
 
I found him wooden, trying too hard, and obviously uncomfortable. I doubted his sincerity and "humility".
Will there be a change in "real life"? I doubt it, but I've been wrong before.

Kurt is a prick....he deserves alot of the stuff that he gets...however if i was him i would sue the hell out of that police department for slander...the only reason i say this is because when this event happend they made it sound like Kurt was driving drunk...they didnt release the fact that is blood alocohol was at a .001 until numerous days after the fact. This information was available to them when he gave a breathilzer test when he was arrested. Yes kurt made an ass of himself, however the police with holding the fact that he was not drunk and making statements making him sound like he was drunk to the public is slander...the police department is supposed to be the better of the two....the situation was handled completely wrong on Kurt Busch's side and on the police department's side.
 
This Buds For Me said:
however if i was him i would sue the hell out of that police department for slander...the only reason i say this is because when this event happend they made it sound like Kurt was driving drunk....


Can I see this via a link or other form please?
 
not gonna dig it up...go back and read the news stories the day or day after it came out.
 
This Buds For Me said:
not gonna dig it up...go back and read the news stories the day or day after it came out.
There's your key word there. The news media sometimes leaves out important information when reporting.
 
I think the real test will come when Kurt and Ryan Newman are running together...will they work with each other or who takes who out first....
 
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