From timeout to title contender, Kurt Busch turns his season around

When NASCAR suspended 2004 Sprint Cup Series champion Kurt Busch two days before the Daytona 500, it seemed inconceivable that one-fourth of the way into the season, the narrative would be about Busch's championship hopes and not about his ongoing efforts to get reinstated.

But that's how quickly things can change and how bizarre Busch's season has turned out to be. He was suspended Feb. 20 for an alleged act of domestic violence against a former girlfriend and was out of his car for the first three races of the season. When the state of Delaware announced that Busch would not face criminal charges, NASCAR suddenly lifted the suspension just 12 days after he agreed to reinstatement terms and conditions.

And now, after leading 291 of 400 laps — the most laps he's ever led in a race — in winning the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Busch is all but locked into the 10-race, season-ending Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with nine of 26 regular-season races in the books.

Not only that, Busch is a legitimate threat to win a second title, especially given that Stewart-Haas Racing builds his cars, just as they did for 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick, one of Busch's staunchest supporters.

By his own admission, Busch drove with a chip on his shoulder after his return from suspension and probably overdrove his car in a few of his first races back. Not on Sunday at Richmond, where Busch and the team were both flawless.

"The chip on my shoulder will now be a trophy that I get to carry out of here today," Busch said. "And the way that I told myself to go slower to go faster, that's how I need to drive as a driver, and that way I'm able to focus on the finer details that separate the good guys from the great guys in this garage."

One of the biggest secrets to Busch's success is his crew chief, Tony Gibson, who like Busch is an old-school racer. Some drivers like to give feedback about how their car his handling and let the crew chief decide what adjustments to make. Busch, who grew up working on his own cars early on, is a lot more involved in his car's setups, which suits Gibson just fine, as it's the same way is old boss and 1992 NASCAR champion, the late Alan Kulwicki, liked to work.

"I worked with Alan for a long time, and the desire and the enthusiasm and the want-to is incredible, and the only reason that he (Busch) wants to know about the race car, because he feels like between his input and our input, we can make a really good product," Gibson said. "I think that's huge. You have to have a driver that's involved. You have to have a driver that's engaged, and we talked about this last year when they asked me over the winter what did I like about him. He's an engaged driver."

And certainly, both Gibson and Busch are kindred spirits when comes to racing.

"It's old-school racing," Gibson said. "That's where I'm brought up, in old redneck racing and tape measures and strings and it's still four tires and a hunk of steel that's got to meet the racetrack. And I know Kurt, he feels the same way.

"He believes in engineering just like I do, but sometimes you've got to go with your gut, and you've got to go old school, and I think that's why me and him, me and Kurt hit it off so well," Gibson said. "We share the same passion of racing. We don't want to run second. We're hard on ourselves when we've got to be to be better, and I think we both have that same mindset."

With his early season TMZ-style behind him, Busch is in an enviable place right now.

Team co-owner Gene Haas, the man who hired Busch, funds his car out of his own very deep pockets. Busch doesn't have to worry about appeasing sponsors and doing a lot of marketing and promotion. Haas' agenda from Day One has been crystal clear: Just win, baby.

That's exactly what Busch, Gibson and the No. 41 crew intend to keep doing.

"And so here we are. We're winners in April," Busch said. "It feels good. Plenty of time to do fun things to build the team up, get stronger, learn from all these races coming up and continue to go forward and like Gene Haas said, one win is great. I want four or five more."

At the rate he's going, he well might get them.