Kurt Busch Is Serious Enough About NHRA to Get a License

Editor's Note: A version of this story first appeared at www.competitionplus.com

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Drag racing has fast become more than just a hobby to Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. In fact, he is as serious about the sport as he is about racing in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

So it was on a beautiful late fall day this week at Rockingham Dragway that Busch earned his NHRA Pro Stock license, taking the next step forward in his pursuit of going straight and not turning left. The Las Vegas native ran fast enough in a Roy Hill-owned Pro Stock to be eligible to drive in the NHRA's third-level series behind Top Fuel and Funny Cars.

There was no fanfare. No champagne. No cheering crowds -- only a few high fives and warranted smiles between the empty concrete, steel, and wood bleachers looking on aside both the left and the right lanes.

There weren't even any other competitors on site. It was Busch, his crew, the track prep crew and Roy Hill, a former drag racer and now drag racing school owner.

For three days, Busch and his crew -- all dedicated to drag racing -- worked under the tutelage of Hill and were put through the paces to ensure that come 2011, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and his team would be ready for whatever might transpire on the drag strip.

The whispered word on the first day of testing, at least around this reporter -- the sole media member on site -- was that Busch will return to Gainesville, Fla., next March with hopes of making his NHRA Pro Stock debut. Busch took his Street Stock Dodge Challenger to Gainesville in March of this year, but was unable to run due to inclement weather.

On the evening of the second day of testing, Busch paused from his schedule to confirm the group's goal.

"If we're ready," said Busch, "we plan on renting a car from Allen Johnson, (a noted competitor in the Pro Stock ranks), with the blessing of Mopar, and attempt to make the field in Gainesville."

There was no mistaking the words "if we're ready," as Busch revealed plans that he previously had kept close to the vest. "There is a big difference between 7.5 seconds and what you need to run to make a Pro Stock field," said Busch, who has advanced quickly in his drag racing endeavors.
"This isn't as easy as I thought it would be."
-- Kurt Busch
"This isn't as easy as I thought it would be," said Busch, who also owns and has run a Dodge in the NHRA's Street Stock division. "But, we're getting there and the past three days haven't just been all about me learning the race car. This has been about my crew learning what it takes to prepare one of these cars to race."

Busch and crew worked on two separate cars simultaneously, a Ford Thunderbird and a Ford Mustang, learning how to change transmissions, rear ends, adjust tire pressures and many of the hidden demands of campaigning a Pro Stock race car. After every run, Hill and Busch walked the first 60 feet of the track, analyzing the early stage of the run, while the crew swarmed the car, getting it ready for another pass down the quarter mile.

On the very first day, Busch went fast enough to earn his NHRA Pro Stock license, but nowhere near quick enough to compete against the seasoned veterans of the NHRA. There is still plenty of work to be done -- work that every team must do before showing up at the track hoping to compete.

"He's earned his license," said Hill, owner of Roy Hill's Drag Racing School and a former owner of Rockingham Dragway. "That doesn't mean he's ready to compete at the top level. He'll get there but this isn't as easy as everyone thinks. Kurt's learning and learning quickly and it won't be long before he is ready."



Asked if he's ever had a student outside the drag racing world show the progress Busch has made over the past year, Hill just shook his head and said no.

"He's not out here playing around," Hill added. "Kurt's very serious and very talented. He's learning quickly this isn't the same as driving a stock car and he is adapting quickly to the skill set needed to race a Pro Stock car."

Busch likened Hill's ability as a teacher to the man who taught him how to drive a stock car.

"He's a lot like my father was when he was taking me to the dirt tracks teaching me how to drive a stock car," said Busch. "Roy Hill is a great teacher. He's not only helping me understand how to drive these race cars but he is directing my crew in the process of maintaining the car, as well."

Even when Busch struggled with the Pro Stock car, Hill was there to walk him through the issues and even took the heat for some of the problems.

There is no mistaking Busch has a real love for drag racing and is serious in his preparation. When it came to comparing his day job as a Sprint Cup Series driver to the thrill of driving a Pro Stocker, Busch said, "Driving one of these cars is a two-minute high. It's a 10 for the two minutes it takes to complete a run. Driving a Cup car is a four-hour session which has its highs and lows but is a seven for almost the entire time."

Busch loves his sevens as he battles week-in and week-out in the Sprint Cup Series, but those two minutes worth of 10's when he is streaking down the drag strip have definitely earned a favored place in his heart as he pursues the dream of racing against the best in the NHRA Pro Stock series.