CRASH SET OFF ALARM FOR BUSCH
Mending driver feared career was over
HUNTERSVILLE, N. C. Kyle Busch remembers every detail from the Xfinity Series crash that has prevented him from racing in a Sprint Cup race this season.
He vividly recalls what he was thinking, what he was feeling and the decision-making that took place in the seconds before he crashed into an interior concrete wall at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 21, leaving him with a badly broken right leg and a broken left foot.
But he had not publicly discussed the incident until Wednesday, when he met with reporters at Joe Gibbs Racing ’s shop north of Charlotte to talk about the crash and his recovery.
Busch began by showing a video, going nearly frame by frame. He told reporters about his mind-set during the lead-up to the impact as well as the aftermath and said he initially worried his career was over.
“I’m thinking to myself, ‘ Man, I’m done,’ ” he said. “‘There’s no way I’m going to be able to come back from this. This hurts.’ ”
But as pregnant wife Samantha wiped tears from her eyes in the front row, Busch said he planned to return stronger than ever — there is no timetable for when that might be — and said the silver lining had been the strengthening of his marriage and friendships off the track.
Busch, wearing a walking boot on his left foot, hobbled up to a stage at the JGR shop as rain fell outside and sat in a black director’s chair where an Apple laptop was hooked to two large screens.
Like a seasoned TV analyst, Busch opened by going through the replay of his crash from several different angles and broke down every aspect of what happened.
He took complete blame for the crash, which was triggered when he tried to push teammate Erik Jones through the middle of a pack. Busch emphasized no car touched his, but the upset air from a spinning Jones sent his car toward the unprotected concrete wall at 176 mph.
Busch’s Toyota crushed the wall — which was not lined with a SAFER barrier — at 90 mph, generating a force of 90 Gs. The lower driver compartment was pushed so far back — and so violently — that it broke his left foot, which was on the brake pedal, and snapped his right leg, which was floating near the gas pedal.
“As soon as the wreck happened, I knew instantly that my right leg broke,” he said. “I could feel it. It was a sharp pain.”
Busch missed the next day’s Daytona 500 and each Sprint Cup Series race since. He spent a combined six nights in hospitals in Florida and North Carolina for surgeries before returning home to recover.
He has had plenty of time to reflect on it in the months since. At first, Busch could not walk — or even bend his knee — and was confined to a bed on the main floor of his home. He would look out a window near the bed and watch squirrels play.
Samantha acted as a support system, nurse and backup physical therapist, a constant presence at Busch’s side despite being pregnant with the couple’s first child — due next month.
Busch said the couple had a very difficult time at first, crying on each other’s shoulders as the magnitude of what happened hit them. Samantha still sheds tears some nights, Kyle said, thinking about what could have happened.
“I’m alive today because the restraints worked, the seat worked, the HANS device worked. Everything worked,” he said. “I can’t say enough about NASCAR and their innovations. From knees up, no problem — not a mark on me, not a bruise, not a headache, not a neckache, nothing.”
Busch appeared relaxed and accepting of his situation Wednesday, saying he was inclined to be patient because there was nothing he could do about it.
“Obviously, I’m itching to get back,” he said. “I want to get back sooner than later, but we’ve obviously got to be smart about it too, knowing that I’ve got a long career ahead of me still. We don’t need to rush anything too crazily.”
David Ragan, on loan from Front Row Motorsports, has been driving the No. 18 Toyota in the Cup series in Busch’s place. He is 10th in the standings, though he has yet to win.
Busch says there’s no timeline for his return, because doctors won’t give him one. Nobody can accelerate natural healing, he said, and he wants to make sure he does everything the doctors tell him to do.
“They say my recovery is going faster than expected,” he said.
The only hint Busch gave on when he might be expected back: Tony Stewart’s compound leg fracture in 2013 was more severe than Busch’s, so the JGR driver should return quicker.
Stewart and Busch have not only discussed their injuries, but the Stewart-Haas Racing driver/ team co-owner was the first person to visit Busch in a Daytona Beach hospital.
Stewart’s recovery time was six months (he was injured in August, missed preseason testing in January and was ready for the 2014 season in February). So Busch’s timetable for a return might fall around July, if that’s the case.
But the road to recovery is measured in baby steps.
When he first stood up to learn how to walk again, Busch said he nearly passed out. Now he has graduated from a walker and is down to a boot.
He proudly told of being able to touch his ankle to his butt while lying on his stomach at physical therapy.
The metal rod in his leg and plate in his foot has given crewmembers and personnel around the JGR shop something to kid him about.
“I legitimately now do have screws loose,” he said, laughing. “So if I ever blame a screw loose on me doing something stupid, then obviously it’s truthful.”
When he eventually is cleared to return to racing — his next progress appointment isn’t for two weeks — Busch will jump into a Late Model stock car to take some laps. NASCAR doesn’t allow testing, so he’ll have to get his stamina and timing back on a local short track first.
And when he finally returns to the Sprint Cup Series, Busch is hoping NASCAR will make him Chase-eligible should he win a race. The only catch: NASCAR would not only have to give him a medical exemption, but it would have to waive the rule that requires drivers to be in the top 30 of the standings.