Why Did Kyle Busch Smash a $25,000 Guitar at the Nashville Superspeedway?

Not many athletes would have the gall to smash a trophy. Sure, sometimes it happens by accident when the trophy is not properly secured; just ask Sebastien Bourdais. However, very few drivers actively try to smash a trophy after winning a race. Back in 2009, Kyle Busch had just won the Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville and was gifted a hand-painted guitar.

This wasn’t just any old guitar though; this was a hand-painted Les Paul guitar. Considering that the jazz legend had passed away that year, one would think that the recipient would treasure the gift. The short answer was, Kyle Busch did not treasure it. Instead, he went full Gene Simmons and wrecked it in front of track announcer Joe Williams and artist Sam Bass.

Williams confessed that the gesture felt like a ‘middle finger’. Naturally, Busch meant no disrespect, but nobody knew it at that time. Later on, it became known that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver ordered a few replicas of the guitar. Additionally, the driver also made a few contributions to Nashville’s music scene.

Why did Kyle Busch break the guitar?

Busch’s defense was that he was trying to break the guitar in rock ’n’ roll fashion. He only did it because he wanted to gift a few pieces to each member of his team. Later reflecting on the incident and hearing Busch’s explanation, he was forgiven a little. However, the initial reaction was comparing it to being gifted the Mona Lisa and burning it in front of Leonardo da Vinci.

Surprisingly, Nashville Superspeedway president Erik Moses admitted that Bass was not upset, despite the fact that he had spent nearly 140 hours on it. Meanwhile, Williams confessed that he sometimes had dreams about trying to stop him from destroying it.

On the bright side, Busch won at Nashville a couple more times, so he had a chance to bring back more guitars. Luckily, he has treated those a little better than the 2009 guitar.

READ MORE: Here’s Why Bubba Wallace Gives the Likes of Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr the Finger at NASCAR Races