A NASCAR superstar came back to Havasu95 Speedway on Saturday. Las Vegas native Kurt Busch spent time throughout the afternoon greeting fans and watching the races.
“We're just super excited that he's here. This is our 18th season, and it hasn't been easy, but this kind of stuff shows that we're doing something right, and we're just glad to be doing this for the city of Lake Havasu,” Havasu95 Speedway’s Shelby Horn said. “It's so exciting being just a small track on, we're just a small mom and pop shop, and to have a NASCAR driver here, it's kind of like, oh wow, we're kind of in the big leagues now, so we're pretty excited to have him.”
The last time Busch was at Havasu95 Speedway was in the 1990s when he was racing in the Legends category.
“I raced Legends, American Racetrack Series, and then Modifieds. I was able to win the ‘97 Open Comp here with my dad's race team. So it was a lot of fun to come back, and the Star Nursery group is what helped me make it in racing,” Busch said. “Seeing the grassroots racing strong like this, in a year-end style race, it's a lot of fun for me to come back and enjoy it but also just to see it going so strong, that's what I'm proud of. So I just want to thank Star Nursery for bringing me back out.”
Busch was at the speedway with Star Nursery, who is also a sponsor for the speedway.
“Star Nursery Garden Centers sponsored one of Kurt Busch's race cars way long before he raced NASCAR,” Horn said. “So, they're the ones who organized this and brought him out and brought out his car and everything, so super, super appreciative of Star Nursery.”
Along with signing autographs, Busch was also with his Star Nursery-sponsored Southwest Tour Championship Car that fans were able to take photos with. Busch reminisced on the time he spent during his childhood in Lake Havasu City while also wanting to give back to a friend.
“It's to give back to a friend, but also to reminisce and go down memory lane, just to see the track again,” he said. “When I was a kid, I thought this was one of the biggest tracks, and it was so cool and now to come back and drive the golf cart around the track, I'm like, wow, this is a small little track but it's what helps. The grassroot racing like this in the desert southwest helps get people to the big time.”
One piece of advice that Busch shares with other drivers is to race smart.
“It's to race smart. You have to race your car so that you don't end up in a crash or don't end up with too much damage and when you put the car back on the trailer after a race, whether you win or whether you're top five, and if you don't have a scratch on it, sometimes that's the best,” he said. “That way you can improve your car and your team isn't working too hard during the week.”
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