Local fans say getting smoked by Kyle Busch in go-kart worth chance to meet NASCAR star

Local fans say getting smoked by Kyle Busch in go-kart worth chance to meet NASCAR star
By Steve Kaminski | The Grand Rapids Press
May 11, 2010, 10:15PM

A fired up Adam Vincent strapped himself into the No. 88 go-kart Tuesday afternoon at Craig's Cruisers Family Fun Center, then pumped his fist into the air and gave out a few screeches.

"Here comes the rain," said Vincent, 39, of Wayland. "Watch me smoke his butt."

The race hardly went the way Vincent envisioned, but in retrospect, he said it still was awfully cool.

Michigan International Speedway officials brought NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch to West Michigan for a media stop Tuesday to help promote the June 13 Sprint Cup Heluva Good 400. Not only did Busch meet with local media, he also participated in a series of go-kart races against local fans.

Busch raced a No. 18 yellow M&M's kart painted just like the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota he drives in Sprint Cup. It turned out that Busch was the one smoking the competition throughout the day.

Fans earned the right to race Busch through a series of qualifying runs during an open two-hour session Tuesday morning.

"He came up behind me and was pushing and I knew it was him and he gave me a love tap," Vincent said. "I was moving people and having a good time, but he used me as a door opener. But it was a good time. That's what it is all about. He gave me props afterwards.

"It's just a privilege to race against someone of this caliber. Never in a million years did I think I was going to get a chance to do so. It's definitely something I can tell the grandkids about."

Busch enters Sunday's race at Dover ranked third in the point standings, and he posted his first win of the season May 1 at Richmond.

He has expanded his role from driver to car owner this season now that he operates Kyle Busch Motorsports. That teams includes a pair of NASCAR Camping World Trucks driven by Brian Ickler and Tayler Malsam.

He said he doesn't often have time to get away like he did Tuesday and have fun at a go-kart track with fans.

"It's a cool place," Busch said. "It's neat to have that much stuff indoors, especially to be able to go inside on a rainy day and race."

Busch has 17 career Cup victories, with 13 of them coming since 2008. Only four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson has more victories (17) during that stretch.

Busch failed to make the Chase a year ago and said qualifying for NASCAR's postseason is his main goal this season.

"We got to make the Chase," Busch said. "It's your season. If you miss the Chase, you're done. The last 10 races, all you are racing for is TV time. Last year, we wanted to feel like we were racing for something, so we wanted to finish 13th, or the best of the worst.

"When you look at it, it's Joe Gibbs Racing, and Joe Gibbs Racing doesn't like being No. 2."

"You get to see what he is like outside of that racing suit," Vincent said. "Here he is in jeans and a shirt, just a regular guy. Sometimes, these guys get perceived as arrogant. He's not arrogant. He's here. He's just like an average guy from Berlin, I-96, Kalamazoo who comes up and says, 'Hi, thanks for coming to the racetrack.' "