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Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch was recently honored at the 2023 NASCAR Awards Banquet. Busch received a standing ovation before he delivered an emotional speech.
Kurt Busch burst into the top level of NASCAR 23 years ago, and was crowned the Cup Series champion in 2004. He has raced for various teams and manufacturers and has experienced plenty of highs and lows over the last two decades.
Busch's career came to an end due to a crash in Pocono last year. He announced his retirement earlier this season.
The 45-year-old received a standing ovation at the Awards Ceremony. The audience gathered in Music City Center, Nashville enthusiastically celebrated his contributions to the sport.
Busch shed tears as he looked back and cherished his time in NASCAR.
“It’s amazing when you have such a family around you all the time," he said. "But yet you don’t take time to say thank you and reflect on the people that are around you. And so thank you NASCAR, thank you all the team owners that I raced for, thank you all the sponsors, the manufacturers."
Kurt Busch also expressed his gratitude to the iconic Monster Energy brand for sticking with him through thick and thin, in the latter stages of his career.
“I just wanna say thank you to everyone in this room and the whole industry that's supported me through all these years of highs-lows, I have won a lot of stuff, wrecked a lot of stuff but it has been an incredible journey and I believe the next chapter for me is to help some of our young guys, young girls. Anybody that wants to be an engineer, a crew chief, or a racer. That’s what I can give back,” he added.
Kurt Busch thanks his brother Kyle Busch and family during speech at NASCAR Awards
Kurt Busch thanked his family and his younger brother Kyle Busch for their support, saying that they helped him reach the premier racing series and win a championship.
“To be a champion in this sport it takes that drive it takes that lesson learned early on and I wanna thank my mom, my dad, and my little brother Kyle (Busch). We always pushed each other to be at that next level,” he said.
Kyle Busch appeared to be holding back tears as his elder brother continued his emotional speech.
“You learn to absorb and to be better and so that’s what I want to give back to our next generation of racers and everybody that is involved in NASCAR,” he added.
Busch will no longer be behind the wheel of the car but will remain close to the sport, mentoring the drivers at 23XI Racing.
