NASCAR Cup Series

Victory has yet to sink in for Kurt Busch, SHR at Daytona 500 winner's breakfast

Published Feb. 27, 2017 11:45 a.m. ET

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Tom Jensen

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Newly minted Daytona 500 champion Kurt Busch and his Stewart-Haas Racing crew celebrated their dramatic triumph Monday morning at the traditional winner’s breakfast in Daytona Beach.

“To win a Daytona 500 is hard to put into words. It’s beyond belief, really,” said Busch, who ran his first 500 in 2001, when he qualified 26th and finished 41st.

“As a kid you watch this race on TV and you live the experiences with each of the drivers that win the race or lose the race,” he said.

“And after 16 years of having it go 16 different ways, when you win it one time it erases all of those memories,” said Busch, the 2004 NASCAR champion.

“And you now have this permanent memory of being able to drive into victory lane with a winning car, and a winning car is put together by a great group of guys, a talented group of guys, a committed group of guys,” he said.

As much as the victory meant to Busch, it may have been even more meaningful to crew chief Tony Gibson, who was born in Halifax Medical Center, virtually across the street from Daytona International Speedway.

“It meant a lot to me to finally get this done and top it off and to be in my hometown is tremendous,” said Gibson. “I had a lot of friends at the race track and a lot of friends in the area that I saw on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when we were off. It meant a lot to see those friends and a lot of them were in the grandstands and in the pits. Your phone is blowing up and they’re like, ‘You finally did it, buddy. You finally made it and you made it happen.’”

Prior to the 2014 NASCAR season, SHR co-owner Gene Haas hired Busch, who was at a crossroads in his career and even sponsored Busch’s car through his Haas Automation company. There was one prime directive for Busch: Just win, baby.

“When Gene hired me he said, ‘I hate points racing. That crap sucks. I want trophies,’” said Busch. “OK, I finally got a big one, but we’ll keep plugging away and I love it. I love this group of guys. There’s no quit and there’s no end.”

What there is, finally, is a Daytona 500 victory for Busch, Gibson and SHR.

“I woke up this morning and saw the ring on my counter I was like, ‘Yes, I guess we did win this thing,’” said Haas. “It’s almost like living in some kind of a fantasy, but I never really expected this to come true. I was ready to go home last night and everything just got totally turned around and here we are.”

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