Will Buxton seemed distraught on his podcast as he recollected a fair yet vital behind-the-scenes memory with Kyle Busch. According to Buxton, Busch had a major role in setting up and welcoming the son of three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet, Nelson Piquet Jr., to American motorsports.

Buxton explained, “My UK agent, she was Nelson Piquet Jr.’s press officer, and she said that Kyle was the one person who really embraced Nelson and helped him when he came over to America and when he was kind of finding it hard to settle in.”

Piquet Jr. stepped into NASCAR after the infamous Renault “crashgate” scandal. At the time, Busch was already one of NASCAR’s biggest stars, and he was known to respect international drivers from open-wheel backgrounds. Piquet Jr. eventually joined Kevin Harvick Inc. full-time in the Truck Series in 2011.

But the comments were made by Buxton as tributes continued to flow from around the world. Even though many saw Busch as Rowdy and a racing villain, the same people are now revealing a side of his personality that stayed hidden for so long.

Buxton added, “So many of them were like, ‘I never rooted for him, but I'm so sad that he's no longer here because he was part of what made me love NASCAR. He's part of what made me love racing.’”

“I got a lot of people who reached out to me from the Formula One world… there were so many personal stories of ways in which Kyle had helped them,” Buxton added. “There are countless, countless stories of people who have forever been touched and had their lives helped because of Kyle.”

And such was the life of Kyle Busch. Whether through his charity or through his racing, he influenced the lives of many, several of whom did not even realize it. But the potential in one of these many was clearly visible in Nelson Piquet Jr. Let’s take a look at this driver’s story.

Nelson Piquet Jr.’s NASCAR Reinvention

After abandoning F1 in 2009 following the infamous Renault Crashgate scandal, Nelson came to the shores of America searching for a fresh start. This prodigy decided to test his hand in NASCAR in 2010, first racing in ARCA before debuting in the Truck Series with Red Horse Racing.

This young driver was quick to adapt to the American racing style and stock cars, which earned him a ride with Kevin Harvick Inc. in 2011, where he managed 10 top-10 finishes.

However, the essential breakthrough came in 2012 when he earned the accolade of becoming the first Brazilian to win a NASCAR national-series race after dominating the Nationwide Series race at Road America under the banner of Turner Motorsports.

This showed that his skills were transferable and valuable. And maybe this is the exact thing that Kyle saw in him, guiding him toward championships before any of us even knew what the young kid had in him.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Uday Jakhar

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason