Kurt Busch looks back on his NASCAR title, 20 years on

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emailBy Eric Johnson | December 9, 2024 12:24 PM ET

The 2004 season of the NASCAR Cup Series was the first running of “The Chase,” forerunner of today’s playoff format. The 10-race brawl making up that first Chase was fought out between Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and then 26-year-old, fourth-year Cup racer Kurt Busch. With a fifth-place finish in the final round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Busch took home the title, a memory he savors 20 years on.

“I think it’s appropriate to look back on it being 20 years ago and around this time of year when I was able to win the championship in NASCAR,” reflects Busch. “In 2004 it was just a whole new revolutionizing type of year, with Nextel being the sponsor of the entitlement. Winston was gone and then having a new series point structure… I mean, it was an incredible time to be part of the sport.”What placed Busch on a trajectory towards that championship day was earning a spot in the Roush Racing ‘Gong Show’ in 1999. Rookie of the Year in the 1998 NASCAR AutoZone Southwest Series, Busch got the Gong Show invite, and after excelling, won a Craftsman Truck Series job. In the No. 99 Roush Racing Ford F-150, Busch was the championship runner-up in the 2000 Truck Series.