The 2023 season hasn’t been the best for Richard Childress Racing sensation Kyle Busch. Although he did qualify for the playoffs this year, Busch was eliminated after the Round of 12 after a must-win effort at Charlotte Motor Speedway fell just short. However, losing out on a championship doesn’t deter the incredible driver that the #8 Chevy Star is.

What makes a champion? One who doesn’t back down from accepting challenges that life hurls before them and still goes out there and wins it all. And Kyle Busch is a certified champion. In a recent Racing America interview, the hosts had Busch relive his death-defying crash at Daytona almost 8 years ago. Needless to say, Busch didn’t back down even then.

Kyle Busch chewed down his pain and came back stronger

Kyle Busch can never forget his fearful Xfinity Series crash that ousted him from racing in 11 races after he rammed straight into an interior concrete wall on February 21, 2015, at 176 mph, which left the speedster with a badly broken right leg and a shattered left foot.

Busch knew it was his fault as moments before, he tried to push his then-teammate Erik Jones through the pack but unfortunately failed to convey it properly to Jones. As a result, the dirty air from a spinning Jones caught Busch and sent him darting straight into the wall. Busch tried to veer his car away but soon realized that he was running out of time. Seeing no other options, he tucked his head into his arms to protect himself from receiving a fatal blow, but in the process forgot to lift his feet off the pedals.

Although back then, he had admitted that he would come back stronger than ever, nobody knew how long it would be till he drove his JGR Toyota again. Fast forward to today, Busch laughed as he said on an episode of Mics Are Hot, “When I came back from injury, the first two weeks people were asking me hey how’s it going how you feeling, how’s your foot… blah blah blah… I’m like yeah it’s fine, everything is fine, it’s like a 2 out of 10.”

“I was lying straight through my teeth. It hurt. I was in pain. Actually, NASCAR did me a favor and allowed me to kind of skip driver intros, like I got to walk the stage and then I got to go straight to my car; I didn’t have to ride along stuff and I was still in my street shoes,” he continued. Busch explained that the racing shoes had hard soles meant to feel the brake pedals and hence, didn’t have any cushioning on them.

Despite that pain, Busch came back and just in his fifth race back at Sonoma, he bagged a win. But it wasn’t as great as it sounds. “My foot blew up twice the size it was,” admitted Busch, “And once the season was over, I was able to go in for surgery and get everything removed and pulled back out and then I felt like a brand new guy walking out of the hospital.”

Watch this story: Bubba Wallace Unveils Kyle Busch’s Tough Love Approach

Someone who could joke about such a major injury indeed deserves the name “Rowdy”. But his valor didn’t just stop at Sonoma that year.

Kyle Busch’s emotional 2015 ride set an example for every racer out there

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Rowdy stared down at his injury and did come back stronger than ever. The cherry on the cake came at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he won his first Sprint Cup Championship, Joe Gibbs Racing’s fourth Sprint Cup championship, and Toyota’s first.

Busch sped past Brad Keselowski on the final restart on Lap 261 and steered forth. SHR sensation Kevin Harvick tried to chase him down but Kyle Busch held him off by almost 20 car lengths. As a result, Kevin Harvick had to settle for a runner-up position.

It goes without saying that Busch was emotional at the victory lane. According to NBC Sports, the former KB Motorsports owner couldn’t believe what he had just done. “It’s pretty unbelievable,” Busch cried, “It’s a dream of a lifetime, a dream come true, it’s something that happens only ever so often.”

“I just can’t believe it with everything that happened this year, all the turmoil that I went through, my wife went through, my family went through and people around me went through. This championship is for these guys, my wife, my family, and everyone who sacrificed to get me here,” he added.

As motorsport enthusiasts, we can only hope that Kyle Busch pulls his socks up and makes another such comeback in 2024 to shock the entire community yet again.

Read more: Kyle Busch Declares His Way to Race to Be Better, Unlike Former Teammate’s