How a tip from Tyler Reddick helped Kurt Busch claim a photo-finish IROC win at Laguna Seca

Twenty-three years after he clinched the 2003 International Race of Champions title, taking down such prolific racing legends as Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Helio Castroneves, Kurt Busch recently came up big at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca where he took possession of the Unser Family Cup after a frantic drag race to the finish with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

Thrilling the fans present at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, 2004 NASCAR Cup champion Busch and Johnson ran up front in the 15-minute race, the entire affair coming down to the very last corner and a sprint to the checkered flag which Busch won by an eye-blink margin of 0.002s.

Also the winner of the IROC Heritage International exhibition race staged at Ten Tenths Motor Club outside of Charlotte Motor Speedway last April, Busch will now chase after IROC win number three this Saturday afternoon when IROC lines up as part of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix NTT IndyCar Series race in Washington D.C.

“Man, Laguna Seca feels like a top 10 type of win, but yet at the end of the day, racing is who I am,” said Busch.

“Competing against the best of the best is what I’ve always loved to do. The whole IROC group, it’s like a fraternity when you get the whole group together and they build their cars and show back up and represent the 1980s and the 1990s and the 2000s of IROC. Again, we all just have to thank Ray Evernham and Rob Kauffman for getting the IROC group back together.”

Nothing tops winning, and despite everything Busch has accomplished during his 23-year NASCAR Hall of Fame career, Kurt Busch still gets a rush out of racing and the work he puts in to excel at the optimum level. 

“For me, it’s about the preparation,” said Busch of his personal racing program. “It’s the execution. It’s the drive. And then you do different things in practice sessions to learn. I mean we’re all in identically-prepared IROC cars and so I have to go and dig deep and figure out, ‘Alright, where would this moment happen?’

"And I remember something from Tyler Reddick, I’ll tell you that. He taught me that green paint on the outside of some of the FIA style tracks as far as the curbing and the green paint on the exits gives you that right side grip out of the tires. I went out there and researched it during practice! I had to pull that little ace card right there at the end.”

For both Busch and Johnson, the IROC race for the Unser Family Cup all came down to the white flag and one final lap dash to the finish line. 

“For me, I knew there was going to be a last lap pass,” described Busch of the showdown. “I attacked him in turn one under braking, and that was my first attempt. And he knew it. I got in there hot. It was four wheel drift! I was locking up both the fronts and the rears. It was one of those old school moments of, ‘Oh, we’re beyond our limits right now. The tires are wearing out.’

Photo by Marc Miramontez

"There were no real passing zones in Turns 2, 3, 4 and 5. Turn 6 is the big corner at Laguna Seca where you drop down on to that old dip and head up the hill towards the Corkscrew. I was saying to myself, ‘I’ve got to get this. You’ve got to do it.’ And I was there, but I just didn’t think it was right to throw it in there on the Corkscrew under braking – like a Alex Zanardi-style pass. It wasn’t there.

"We went in to the big, long Turn 9 and then he blocked low going into Turn 10 and I said, ‘If he blocks low going into Turn 11, I’m going to the outside. I’m going full blitz.

"And he blocked low into 11, and I loved it. I practiced going to the outside in Turn 11 off of that green paint to get my right side grip and to get the forward bite and the drive.

"I could literally hear his tires spinning in first gear trying to launch off Turn 11 to go to the checkered flag. I said, ‘I got him! I think I can get him!’

"Johnson raced a masterful race. For me to be able to be right there at the end, I didn’t think I was going to win it. I was able to make it happen off Turn 11. Everything was precise and you feel it through the engine and the tachometer. I needed to shift at 7,400 because my rev chip was at 7,500. I was like, ‘I need 7,400 now!’ I had to hit it perfect. I was focused on my tachometer and I didn’t realize if I was left or I was right on the racetrack against Johnson. I was just so focused on the engine, because that’s really what it is to make a difference in IROC racing.”

With the margin of victory being so narrow, did Busch know that he had defeated Johnson?

“I felt it," he says. "I felt it and maybe I had some help from up above with my brother pushing me to do it right, you know?” explained Busch. “I did feel it. I did feel it that I won.

"It was one of those moments of, ‘I prepped, I wanted it.’ And our group who helped put all this together was awesome. It was just that team feeling of ‘This is what we do together to go win races.’

"When I got out of the car, it felt like one of those races where you’re taking the gloves off and going after it, you know what I mean? It was so cool driving 2000-era cars in 2026, but yet going after it and going hard. That’s why Jimmie and I were both smiling after the race. I didn’t know where the limit was. We were both just going after it. I said to Jimmie, ‘Man, it was good that we didn’t make contact, right?’ And Jimmie goes, ‘What do you mean?’ I said to him, ‘I was going to give you a door, man. I was going to move you old IROC style.’ It was cool to be able to race that hard, but to be able to race that clean.

“To be able to race against the best of the best and to respect each other knowing we’re going to put on a good show, but yet both of us, and all of us want that IROC trophy. I think the coolest part about it all is that we’re racing each other clean because we’re the champions from our own divisions.

"I love the camaraderie and the fraternity feel and the prep of the cars. Just to see all of the colors and the different nationalities and the different disciplines. I mean we have IndyCar guys, sports car guys, NASCAR guys. All of us are there putting our best effort forth to respect the heritage of IROC racing, and we all have Ray Evernham to thank.”