Furniture Row team renews Kurt Busch’s energy

DENVER

His reputation as NASCAR’s bad boy wasn’t holding up on this morning in late January, as Kurt Busch served as the perfect host.

He walked throughout the Furniture Row Racing facility, pointing out the car he would drive in the Daytona 500, the chassis that recently arrived from Richard Childress Racing, the rounded rear bumpers on the new NASCAR-mandated Gen-6 cars.

The Las Vegan seemed especially proud of the facility, located in an industrial area near the old Stapleton International Airport, and of the new beginning it represents.

It didn’t matter the building is only 35,000 square feet, a closet compared to the NASCAR mansions that dot the South. A golf cart is needed to navigate some of those big-time facilities, which are more than 100,000 square feet.

“This is our humble home, and it’s a functioning shop,” Busch said. “It’s not the big, glitzy, glamorous places like you see back East. This is just old-school racing, and it’s filled, though. Everywhere you look, there are compartments, there are people, there’s something going on.

“It’s old school, it’s small, but, yeah, it’s big time, all in the same envelope.”

Furniture Row, the only NASCAR Sprint Cup team west of the Mississippi River, seemed genuinely glad to welcome Busch to the team.

Part of that is fueled by the late surge last season when Busch left Phoenix Racing for Furniture Row for the final six races and ended with three consecutive top-10 finishes in the No. 78 Chevrolet. Previous driver Regan Smith posted three top-10 finishes for Furniture Row in the season’s first 30 races.

The team’s optimism goes beyond adding Busch, though he is a significant reason for the positive feelings.

Furniture Row has the financing it believes is needed to be competitive, an organization that has steadily grown, and a crew chief in Todd Berrier who served in the same capacity for Childress for 10 years. He moved to Furniture Row about midway through last season.

Furniture Row also has a working agreement with RCR, and Busch even participates in drivers’ meetings with Childress.

Busch, 34, views Furniture Row as a team on the rise and one that gives him a realistic chance to make the 12-driver Chase.

“He is energized,” team general manager Joe Garone said. “We all are, because he being the leader of the pack is part of the reason everybody is so energized right now. He is so excited about the opportunity, and I think honestly he was pleasantly surprised once he came on board and could see firsthand the resources we have.

“We can put him in cars that will compete in the top 10 and give him the tools he needs to showcase his talents.”

CREATING CONTROVERSY

Making the playoff field used to be expected for Busch, who won the series championship in 2004. He has made the postseason six times, the last time two years ago.

But no conversation about Busch stops with his driving ability.

His history of creating controversy was why he wasn’t welcomed back to Penske Racing after the 2011 season.

Busch went to little-known Phoenix Racing last year, and he insisted he wanted to enjoy the experience of trying to compete on a team that had about as much chance of beating the big boys as the Sacramento Kings do of winning the NBA championship.

He said it was a fun experience despite seeing the end of his 10-year streak with at least one Cup victory. Busch pointed to that team’s offer to bring him back as a part-time Nationwide Series driver this season as proof he left on good terms. He will compete in three Nationwide races for Phoenix.

“Kurt’s one of the best drivers out there. I can say that,” Phoenix owner James Finch told The Associated Press. “I didn’t say he was the best person.”

Finch watched last season as Busch repeatedly created headlines for the wrong reasons.

Busch was placed on probation and fined $50,000 for running into the back of Ryan Newman’s car on pit road in May in Darlington, S.C.

In early June, at Dover, Del., Sporting News reporter Bob Pockrass asked Busch if being on probation caused him to drive conservatively against Justin Allgaier in a Nationwide race.

“It refrains me from beating the (expletive) out of you right now because you ask me stupid questions,” Busch said. “But since I’m on probation, I suppose that’s improper to say as well.”

NASCAR suspended Busch for a week.

That’s the conundrum.

NASCAR thrives on conflict. The organization famously told its drivers three years ago in the face of waning TV ratings and attendance to “have at it” while racing for position.

Fans — and the organization itself — revel in the image of outlaws doing what it takes to win. That’s why NASCAR and its fans still revere Dale Earnhardt Sr., The Intimidator in his famous black No. 3 Chevy closing in on the bumper of another driver about to be shoved aside.

NASCAR fans often complain the organization has gone too corporate and has grown too far removed from its roots. It’s a fine line for NASCAR, which craves the big bucks of the white-collar sponsorship world while still hoping for the feuds that draw eyeballs to the sport.

When Busch watches Jeff Gordon deliberately crash into Clint Bowyer in November and a fight erupt between the teams, he wonders why those drivers aren’t castigated as he would have been.

“There were 50 races I did last year,” Busch said. “Three times I slip up. What happened to those other 47? That’s what I’m trying to tell people is there’s a lot of good stuff that’s here. We won at Richmond in my third Nationwide race with (brother) Kyle. That’s kind of just shoved under the doormat. We won a Nationwide race with Phoenix Racing.

“No driver won with two different programs in Nationwide last year. You don’t see that anymore. But that’s stuff that’s not important to people. What’s important is when you slip up.”

LOOKING AHEAD

On this unseasonably warm day in Denver, Busch was more interested in looking ahead than behind.

He talked about how driving for the only team in the West is an advantage because the entire region can claim Furniture Row as its home club.

“We find all these West Coast suppliers that they’re not saturated by all the East Coast teams going to the same people,” Busch said. “So we can find some guys here in Denver, and we can find guys in LA that can get us stuff more easily, and they wanted to be involved to help us as a West Coast team to find new and innovative things.”

Busch seemed relaxed at Furniture Row’s media day, and even took reporters outside to listen to what it sounds like when a racecar zooms up to 200 mph. As others covered their ears, Busch stood by calmly, clearly in his comfort zone.

Taking the offseason to relax helped. Garone suggested the driver use a couple of months to clear his head and not think about racing.

Because the company is also the team’s primary sponsor, Busch didn’t need to fulfill corporate requests that often take up much of an offseason.

He used the free time to go skiing near Denver and spend New Year’s Eve at Jackson Hole in Wyoming.

Busch also raised $500,000 for the Armed Forces Foundation. His girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, is president of the Washington-based organization, which provides assistance for military members and their families.

Taking a break from racing was crucial, Busch said, noting the end of last season became a blur of testing, traveling and competing.

He called the time off the team’s “gift to me.” In return, Busch showed how committed he is to winning.

Berrier said he hasn’t worked with a driver with a better feel for the car, the team and race conditions.

“He doesn’t want lap times,” Berrier said. “He’ll tell you when he runs a tenth faster, and he’ll be right.

“He knows in his mind (a race situation). He’s counting the laps. He’s got the whole race pieced together, so it’s not like he’s out there waiting for somebody to tell him what to do. He’s in charge of it all. He’s the quarterback of it.”

CHANNELING PASSION

So this is NASCAR’s bad boy?

Busch certainly bears most of the responsibility for the criticism he has received, even if he is hardly alone in stepping out of line. Like most people, he is more shades of gray than stark black and white.

Berrier has seen the good side in their short time working together.

“The perception is he would be difficult or he would be this or he would be that,” Berrier said. “It’s not any of that. He’s a genuinely good person and is really in tune to what goes on, and he’s really on top of the racecar and the dynamics of the team. That part, honestly, makes it really easy to work with somebody like that.”

Glenn Close’s character in the baseball classic “The Natural” said she believes we all have two lives — “the life we learn with and the life we live with after that.”

Busch’s second life can be one of redemption, leading an underdog race team into championship contention while rewriting his own image.

Now that would be a Hollywood ending, and whether it’s a story that would be too good to be believed doesn’t really concern Busch.

He said he doesn’t care what people think, and perhaps he can’t.

Because maybe the true Kurt Busch, the one capable of winning big races, can only succeed if he allows his passion to breathe and flourish.

That might mean more uncomfortable moments lay ahead. Another fine, perhaps; maybe a suspension; probably more negative press.

It also might mean one of the sport’s top drivers getting back to making regular visits to Victory Lane.

When asked if he needs that fire that can burn out of control so easily to be successful, Busch acknowledges the reality of his situation, but also seems at peace with it.

“The fabric of sports, of people in general, is changing,” Busch said. “People are getting phased out because they stick their neck out too much. If you just run in an even line, then you’re not making noise and you’re not meeting expectations. The way that I drive, I just let the driving speak for itself.

“I’m 100 percent content with who I am and what I’ve done, and what’s out there is what’s out there.”

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@review
journal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.