Las Vegas native Kurt Busch burst onto the NASCAR scene in the early 2000s and he was elevated by his quick understanding of how to navigate one of the sport’s toughest and most challenging tracks – Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch admitted he struggled mightily the first time he rolled onto the high-banked Tennessee bullring in a Cup race car as a rookie. But he proved to be a quick study of Bristol 101 and managed to win his first Cup Series race at The Last Great Colosseum in only his 50th career start, the 2002 Food City 500.

The wins came quickly after that breakthrough and the lessons he learned at Thunder Valley played a huge role in why Busch was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. on Friday, Jan. 23. Busch was inducted alongside fan-favorite Harry Gant and NASCAR pioneer Ray Hendrick.

“I was so intimidated my first time at Bristol,” Busch has said. “I feel like I wrecked five times in the first 100 laps. Then I was able to come back my second year in about my 50th race and win the spring race there."

Busch says he remembers an amazing feeling after holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Cup veterans Jimmy Spencer and Ricky Rudd to take that win in 2002. He said it was like reaching the top of Mount Everest.

"What I remember so vividly was that Jack Roush came up to me after practice and said the car looked really good on exit of turn four," Busch recalled. "That's what I was telling my crew chief Jimmy Fennig, is that my car is really dialed in and feels great on the exit of turn four. That's the spot where I've watched Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and all of the big names win at Bristol, because their car would really carve off of turn four.”

That second-year Bristol breakthrough led to additional wins at Martinsville, Atlanta and Homestead-Miami. He finished third in the championship standings and officially announced his arrival as a future title contender.

In his fourth Cup season, Busch won the first Cup championship contested under the 10-race Chase format, despite a freak occurrence in the decisive season finale at Homestead, when his right front tire broke loose from his No. 97 Ford as the car approached pit road. Busch rallied to finish fifth and wrapped the title by eight points over NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson.

Busch, 47, finished his career with 34 Cup Series victories, including six Cup wins at Bristol. His resume includes a victory in the 2017 Daytona 500 and a rare sweep of the NASCAR All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2010.

During Friday night’s ceremony Busch received his Hall of Fame ring from brother Kyle Busch. With 97 victories between them, Kurt and Kyle boast more Cup victories than any other pair of brothers in NASCAR history.

Busch bookended his career with significant Bristol victories. In 2018 he outlasted a field of talented drivers to win the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. That race was highly ranked on fan polls and has been called an “Instant Classic” by many racing historians. That night Busch emerged the winner in an explosive race that featured a bunch of crashes and a big mix of race leaders. Fans were on the edge of their seats trying to figure who was gonna eventually win. As the smoke cleared it was Busch who held off Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer to take the checkered flag.

“This track brings out the best in everybody,” Busch said after the 2018 win. “Just to come here and feel that Saturday night atmosphere and racing under the lights, it brings you back to your roots… When you come to the 'Holy Grail of Short Tracks,' you want to win it.”

In his Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Busch offered special thanks for the support of his parents, Tom and Gaye Busch, and those who encouraged him during his early racing days.

“I was just a blue-collar kid from Las Vegas, with a dream to be a racer,” Busch said. “Thank you, Mom and Dad, for all the support through the years. The work ethic that you instilled in me, and the village of people around me in Las Vegas… you guys were always there to help me out, both on and off the track. Love ya.”

Busch scored his last Cup victory at Kansas Speedway in 2022 in a 23XI Racing Toyota Camry, making him the only driver to win at NASCAR’s highest level for four different manufacturers—Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge and Toyota.

Gant was a late bloomer in the sport and earned 18 Cup Series victories and 21 wins in what is now the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, including the 1992 spring race at Bristol. He is the oldest driver to win a Cup race at age 52. Like Busch, Gant was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. Gant was most known as “Mr. September” during a famed four-race winning streak where he drove the No. 33 Skoal Bandit in the fall of 1991.

Hendrick, whose “Flying 11” race cars dominated throughout Virginia and on the East Coast, won an estimated 700-plus races in his 40-year career of racing modifieds and late model sportsman cars. The Richmond, Va. native was known throughout the pits as “Mr. Modified.”

Other honorees for the NASCAR Hall class of 2026 included Charlotte Motor Speedway president and general manager Humpy Wheeler, whose ticket-selling promotions and grand ideas for generating publicity are the stuff of legend. Wheeler was honored with the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.

Pioneering journalist Deb Williams also was honored and named the Squire-Hall Award winner for NASCAR Media Excellence. She started her career as a reporter for United Press International (UPI) and later served as an editor and reporter for NASCAR Cup Scene magazine, the longtime authority on the sport. She now covers the NASCAR beat for AutoWeek magazine and presides as the president of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA).                                                                 

Get your tickets now to watch the next generation of NASCAR Hall of Fame members work their craft at Bristol Motor Speedway’s upcoming spring race weekend, April 10-12. The Tennessee Army National Guard 250 Truck Race (7:30 p.m., FS1 and PRN Radio) on Friday night, April 10, will kick off a full weekend of racing activities. The weekend also will feature a 300-lap race in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday, April 11 (7:30 p.m., The CW and PRN Radio) and Bush’s Beans Qualifying for NASCAR Cup Series and O’Reilly Series teams. All the action will culminate with Sunday afternoon’s legendary Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series race on April 12 (3 p.m., FS1 and PRN Radio).

In addition to cheering on their favorite drivers during the weekend in each of the trio of races, Bristol Motor Speedway fans will definitely want to take advantage of so many activities to make a complete weekend of family fun. There will be great video entertainment provided by Colossus TV, the world's largest center-hung video screen, premium VIP experiences, tailgating, on-site camping, concerts and other entertainment at the Food City Fan Zone Stage headlined by Trackside Live with Kenny Wallace and John Roberts, great food and beverages in the concession stands throughout the property, and so much more.

To purchase tickets to the Food City 500 weekend of races or any events at Bristol Motor Speedway, please visit the track’s website or call the BMS Ticket Sales Center at (866) 415-4158. You can also purchase tickets at any neighborhood Food City store while supplies lasts through Friday, April 3.

-NASCAR Newswire contributed to this story.