NASCAR Busch reaps benefits of Nextel Cup championship

Kurt Busch has built a reputation that is drawing anger from competitors.
NEW YORK (AP) -- For anyone unhappy that Kurt Busch is the new Nextel Cup champion, Jack Roush has some advice: Get used to it.
Busch has built a reputation during his four years in NASCAR's top series as a driver who would run over anyone else to get to the winner's circle. That has brought boos from the fans and anger from competitors.
Now, the 26-year-old Busch is the champion, having overcome all kinds of roadblocks during the new 10-race playoff-style Chase for the championship to win the closest points battle in NASCAR history.
This week, Busch is in New York reaping the benefits of that championship. He is making numerous TV appearances, visiting with New York firefighters and preparing to collect about $10 million at Friday night's awards ceremony.
"It would be hard for anyone to wipe the smile off my face," Busch said Wednesday after being honored by series sponsor Nextel at a midtown restaurant.
Busch fan
Team owner Roush, who won his first Cup title in 2003 with Matt Kenseth after going 16 years without one, now has two in a row and is one of Busch's biggest fans.
Roush said the raw talent was always there.
"You know, going back to when Kurt first drove for our team, his first six or seven races, I think he spun out every race," Roush said. "But each time he saved the car. He had an innate instinct to survive, and I don't think that's a learned thing."
Roush said the young driver, who spent just one year in the Craftsman Truck Series before moving up, needed to learn a lot and to gain considerable maturity before he could accomplish what he did this year. But Roush added that it was only a matter of time.
"If something good happens to Kurt, he writes it down and he has it forever," Roush said. "If something bad happens, he puts it behind him and doesn't do it again. He's not getting caught up in things that happened before that were disruptive."
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Busch knows he doesn't enjoy the popularity of rivals Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, but says he'd like people to figure out that he is really a good guy and a good racer.
"I'm going to represent NASCAR and Nextel and Roush Racing the best way I know how as a champion," Busch said. "I think we certainly earned the honor by winning a very difficult championship and I'm proud of what we accomplished.
"I think it took until this year to put a championship driver with a championship car and a championship team," Busch said. "The other elements were there in my second year when he won three of the last five races. But it took until this year for me to reach the level where I knew enough to take advantage of what was given to me by [crew chief] Jimmy Fennig and by Jack Roush."