“He’s Sort of the Dale Earnhardt or Richard Petty of Our Sport”: When Kyle Busch Met MotoGP Legend Valentino Rossi

A few days ago, the Trackhouse Racing team announced an ambitious undertaking called Project 91. Then, the outfit decided to break the internet a day later. This was when they announced the 2007 F1 champion, Kimi Raikkonen, as their first candidate at Watkins Glen.

They are also rumors that stars from other forms of motorsport, like MotoGP, were on the cards. Speaking of MotoGP, the two sports have already crossed over once, courtesy of Valentino Rossi and Kyle Busch.

Back in 2013, Rossi partnered up with Kyle Busch for a Monster-sponsored event. Talking about Rossi, Busch said, “He’s sort of the Dale Earnhardt or Richard Petty of our sport, I guess you’d say. He’s the best, he’s always had the name everybody’s interested in what Valentino Rossi’s doing.”

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“I read up a little bit about him, he’s got the most career wins, I think its seven championships or nine championships. Having a notoriety, its like he’s almost a superhero of MotoGP.”

What did Kyle Busch admire about Rossi and MotoGP riders?

Busch was amazed that they could go at around 200mph and be leaning so close to the ground. Meanwhile, Rossi himself revealed that he knew about the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. According to the Italian, he is one of the fastest drivers he has ever seen. The #46 rider also revealed that he is a fan of all motorsport, so he is familiar with NASCAR and stock car racing.

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Of course, the #18 driver was a little nervous about Rossi driving the car. He did not want the Italian rider crashing it, but at the same time, he did say that he wanted the MotoGP legend to have fun out on the track.

The best part was that the private test was taking place at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Rossi acknowledged the track’s history and even compared it to his home track, the Mugello Circuit. All in all, the Italian legend had a great time on the racetrack and handled the car pretty well.