And now for something completely different: Kyle Busch ready to take on the Chili Bowl for the first time

TULSA, Okla. — The line for autographs inside the SageNet Center extended down the aisle and wrapped around the corner.

No, the line wasn‘t for Kyle Larson or Christopher Bell, a pair of Chili Bowl Nationals champions. It was for two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch.

Busch, the driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, was preparing to make his Chili Bowl Nationals debut Friday afternoon amid the sea of fans hoping to catch a glimpse of — and perhaps an autograph from — the Las Vegas native.

It‘s a scenario that five years ago seemed unlikely, but a lot has happened since then that led to the stars aligning for Busch to make his Chili Bowl debut.

“I‘ve always watched it and just kind of enjoyed seeing it and looking at other guys and their craft and seeing how good they can be at what they do. It‘s always amazed me,” Busch said about the Chili Bowl. “Everybody talked me into it. FloRacing and Lucas Oil, they were all for it and wanted to be a part of my adventure. So here we are.”

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Dirt racing was not on Busch‘s radar a few years ago, not until his 9-year-old son Brexton began his own racing career at tracks like North Carolina‘s Millbridge Speedway and other dirt tracks across the United States.

“I guess it all just kind of came to fruition with the last two or three years running all the dirt stuff with Brexton and having my chance to run the micro stuff,” Busch explained. “I go to all these race tracks and all these races with him. When we first started, it was just junior sprints and we were kind of bored with the rest of the time that we had, so I was like, ‘I may as well get out there. I may as well drive.‘

“I feel like that has kind of helped us and me understand a little bit more about the adjustments that I need to give him better and his car better.”

Busch made his SageNet Center and micro sprint debut in 2022 by competing in the Tulsa Shootout alongside his son. Since then, he has joined Brexton on dirt as often as possible, and the two have become regular competitors at Millbridge, where they each won track championships last season.

The 39-year-old has spared no expense for his dirt racing program. He hired Al Scroggins, a highly regarded dirt-racing crew chief who has worked with some of the best dirt racers in the world, to spearhead the operation.

With Scroggins already on board, Busch decided to build his own midget car rather than rent one of the nearly 400 cars that show up every January to compete on the temporary indoor dirt circuit known as Tulsa Expo Raceway.

“He (Scroggins) has been in this world for so long and knows everything and so much about these cars,” Busch said. “He has worked with some of the top tier talent that has been through the midget ranks.

“I figured I‘ve got one of the best guys that knows how to put them together and do it with, so let‘s go do it ourselves and not have to worry about being a part of a 16-car team and not really getting the attention that we need.”

Does that mean Busch could make more midget starts at marquee events around the country when his schedule allows?

He didn‘t totally dismiss the possibility.

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“It would certainly be fun to go to some of the places and maybe run around,” Busch said. “I keep trying to talk Indianapolis Motor Speedway into doing a big micro show while we‘re up there because we‘ve got the micros and everything. I haven‘t gotten very far with that, but I know the BC39 is up there, so maybe I‘ll get to do that.

“A lot of the times it just kind of varies on being able to do the weekday shows because obviously the weekend stuff is pretty booked up.”

A few weeks ago, Busch got to watch as Brexton bested more than 100 competitors in the junior sprint class to win his first Golden Driller during the Tulsa Shootout.

He‘s under no misguided belief that he can replicate his son‘s success during the Chili Bowl. The goal, really, is to learn, be competitive and have fun during his first start in midget car racing‘s biggest event.

“I would say I‘m more so here for fun, but I want to be competitive, and I want to run well,” Busch said. “I feel like the biggest thing is if I can go forward each time, I‘m on the race track, that‘s a plus.

“Go forward a couple in your heat race, go forward a couple in your qualifier or B-Main or whatever and try to transfer through and see if you can‘t make the A-Main tonight and then put yourself in a D, E or F or something (Saturday). Being a two-time NASCAR champ is enough credentials; I don‘t need to be here. But I wanted to see if I couldn‘t give it a shot.”