Kurt Busch: I have to harness my passion

Early this year AUTOSPORT editor-in-Chief Andrew van de Burgt had an exclusive interview with Kurt Busch, NASCAR's most out-spoken driver, during which he talked of how he was going to change his ways. Following his latest outburst, Busch has been suspended from taking part in this weekend's Pocono race. It seems that this leopard failed to change his spots despite a winter during which he'd sought the key to some inner peace, and which he thought he'd found...

It's the day before the Daytona 500; well the day before this year's Daytona 500 was supposed to take place anyway. I've requested an interview with Kurt Busch, the controversial 2004 NASCAR Cup champion, whose fiery temper and foul-mouthed exploits earned him his ticket out of a plum drive at Team Penske and into the unfancied Phoenix team.

In the beating sun, we grab a spot on a couple of chairs in the shade created by the lowered tailgate of his team's hauler and I attempt to find out how a winter of soul-searching has gone down.

Busch lost his Cup drive with Penske last year... © LAT

Q: When you did your soul-searching, what did you find?

Kurt Busch: "Just going back to having fun. It reminds me of when I first started racing - how hard you had to work every day of the week, just to get to the race track and when you're at the track, you're so busy wearing the hats of all the sponsor guys. The racing part of it, that's the easy part. So it's just neat to work as hard as I have been for the six days of the week and race on the seventh."

Q: So you're more relaxed now?

KB: "To me it's just getting back to that old-school feel of having fun with it. Relaxed is a good word, also just keeping it real. There's no reason to have to answer to anyone else but me."

Q: Have you calmed down a bit now?

KB: "There's a passion that I have, that I have to learn to harness in the right way. It's not going to happen overnight, but at the end of the day there are so many other things going on other than what I see going on outside my windshield to obtain the chequered flag that day, those are all about finding ways to have little victories over the weekend, whether that's in a practice session or just a general year that I'm going to have this year, I'm just laid back."

It sounds so convincing, he looks totally at ease, is calm and relaxed in his delivery and spends time contemplating his answers rather than just trotting them out as lip service. But just a few months later, Kurt is back in front of the NASCAR officials after another post-race outburst at Dover. Coupled with a scrapyard's worth of wrecked cars in his wake, things appear to be unravelling for the 24-time Cup race winner.

It's all a long way from the optimism at Daytona...

Q: How are you turning this around to work for you?

KB: It is what it is. You can't control the message that others put out there, you just have to be yourself and let it all handle itself.

...and now races for the small Phoenix team (51) at the top level © LAT

Q: What was the attraction of Phoenix?

KB: "Just that this team has Hendrick equipment. Motors, chassis, bodies, even pit-crew members who jump over the wall. And when you're starting with a core foundation that strong, there's endless possibilities. Now, are we on the same budget? No. And what we have to do is understand how we can short-cut and save and still put up a representative pace on the race track."

Q: So is this a long-term thing?

KB: "It could be. It's just one race at a time, one week at a time. There are so many races to look forward to that I'm just taking it one day at a time."

Q: Do you see yourself going down the owner/driver route, following the Tony Stewart path?

KB: "It's an option. That's an interesting topic. To see Tony Stewart and what he's done with Gene Haas, who was involved in the Cup series at a certain level and to go over there and change a few things around - and Stewart has that star power to do stuff. But for me I'm happy behind the steering wheel, but you never know, you have to keep all options open."

And with a rumoured interest from Joe Gibbs Racing having cooled following Busch's latest indiscretion, perhaps the owner/driver option could be the one that channels that famous passion into delivering the results on track that his driving talent warrants.