Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
SALISBURY, N.C. — It was the first of who knows how many times for this unique father-and-son moment. They enjoyed some trash talking as part of a historic night of a race against each other.
The wife — who’s also the mom — was there to cheer them both on and even admitted a little favoritism.
Who should Samantha Busch root for when watching her husband, Kyle Busch, race against their 9-year-old son, Brexton? They were both in the field of a micro-sprint race at the quarter-mile Millbridge Speedway dirt track on Wednesday night.
“I’m rooting for both of them,” Samantha Busch said. “But if you had to pick, mostly, I’d have to go with Brexton. Just because he’s my baby.
“He’s going to be mortified that I’ve just done that — I’ve called him my baby.”
But, hey, Brexton Busch is only nine. And that’s something the parents try to remember as he continues to progress as a racecar driver.
At one moment, he’s playing Frisbee and then at another moment, he’s talking to the mechanic who works on his car. And then, in another instance, the younger Busch is racing at a track he is quite familiar with.
Kyle Busch, who has won 63 NASCAR Cup races and a record 232 in the three national series, spent time talking to fans and admitted he would be competitive, even racing against his kid.
“I’m always competitive,” he said prior to the race. “The biggest thing I haven’t necessarily given much thought into is my competition and being out there on the racetrack and focusing in on that and not being so worried as much about where he is at or what he is doing.
“Hopefully I’m not following a green car [of Brexton]. The green car is following a blue car [of me].”
As he said that, Kyle’s son playfully gave him a slap on his arm.
“The other way around,” Brexton said. “Green car, the blue car is following.”
In the end, Kyle finished third in the race, while Brexton finished sixth. But there was a time when they were running third and fourth.
“I’ve got bragging rights for the next couple of weeks,” Kyle said with a laugh.
Overall, it was a fun night for a family that has racing in their blood. The attention likely added pressure for Brexton, who has it naturally because of his last name. He’s not alone in that sense. Millbridge is a track where many drivers and crew members in the industry bring their kids to race in a variety of youth classes — from go-karts to sprint-car-style vehicles with limited horsepower.
It is the place where many of the sons and daughters of the motorsports world get their starts in competitive racing. But rarely does a current NASCAR star race against their son.
“It’s happened a little bit sooner probably than we all thought it would,” Kyle Busch said. “I feel like he’s done a really good job and he’s learned a lot. Whether he beats me or not is not the point.
“The point is to share in this moment. Have some fun in this moment — as a father and son — as a family and be able to work on his craft and keep him on the upward swing. I’m just here for the beer.”
They did share time on the track, and when Kyle made a pass using the top groove, Brexton saw it and tried to do the same.
“Definitely I tried to but it just didn’t work,” Brexton said.
Dad was hoping his son wouldn’t follow him.
“I wasn’t very good,” said Kyle Busch, whose weight put him about 30 pounds over the minimum weight of these types of cars, and therefore he was at a little bit of a competitive disadvantage.
“I was kind of hoping he would think opposite of me and not follow me and maybe he would get me. I didn’t think the top was going to work.”
Kyle Busch said Wednesday night’s event wasn’t meant to be a distraction for him during the racing season or a way to reset for this weekend’s Cup race at Martinsville.
“I try to forget about Sunday as soon as Sunday is over,” Kyle said. “It’s kind of hard to do. You’ve got to go through Monday meetings and sometimes Tuesday meetings to go through and dissect everything about the car and the weekend and how you can improve and make it better.
“[By] Wednesday, we’re already focused on the next week and trying to prepare again for the next one.”
And does this mean they will race each other again, perhaps in a truck race against each other in six years? If the rules remain the same, Brexton would be eligible (if he continues to progress) to compete on short tracks and road courses in May 2031 after he turns 16.
Kyle Busch, in the past, has talked about them both racing trucks, possibly sharing a ride.
“I always said he would run the short tracks and I would run the big tracks and when he was old enough, he would take over,” Kyle Busch said. “I don’t know that we’ll run against each other in NASCAR, but we’ll have to see where everything will fall when that time comes.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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