At just 22 years of age, Kyle Busch has quickly established himself as one of the top drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Busch has already driven for the biggest names in the sport including Roush, Hendrick, and Gibbs. He’s been a winner in everything he has ever driven including giving Toyota its first Sprint Cup victory earlier this year at Atlanta. And, as if that wasn’t enough, he’s led the point standings in each of NASCAR’s premier divisions at some point in 2008. Now, add Pro All Stars Series (PASS) car owner to Busch’s growing list of accomplishments.
Having dabbled in Super Late Model racing over the last several years, Busch decided to quit driving for others and start his own team. While Busch will only have a few opportunities to race with the PASS Series this year, the key to his operation will be young Alex Haase. It’s a relationship that began with Alex’s father, Greg.
“His dad and my dad worked at a Ford dealership in Las Vegas years and years ago,” said Busch of his relationship with the Haase family. “Alex started racing Bandeleros and I sort of helped him out and was talking to him about maybe doing more.”
When NASCAR decided to end its support of Super Late Model racing at the end of the 2006 season, PASS was there to provide a place for drivers to race in the South. With the bulk of the PASS South schedule situated in and around the Carolinas, it was a perfect place for Busch to begin developing his driver.
“I was looking for something that was a good series to put him [Haase] in and something that he could go after a points championship with and get some recognition out of,” said Busch of PASS. “Bob Dillner’s got a car that runs in PASS and he puts some good media attention around it so I felt like it would be a good venture to go into.”
For Haase, the opportunity came at the perfect time in his racing career. Having moved from Bandeleros to Legends to Spec Trucks, Haase and his family knew it was time to make a move. A move that would change his life.
“I grew up on the West Coast, lived in Las Vegas my entire life until about two months ago,” said Haase. “Once we moved from the smaller cars to the Late Models we drove at The Bullring at Las Vegas, we moved to Winston West and decided to move East because that’s where you’ve gotta be.”
Obviously, sponsorship is important in all forms of racing, and despite the fact that Busch’s PASS Super Late Model doesn’t currently have one, the quarter panels are adorned by something very special to Busch and his family.
“I’m just putting the Kyle Busch Foundation on it right now to get more recognition for our cause. Hopefully that gets more people to learn about us and want to help out and give a little back to the kids that we’re working with,” said Busch.
Despite the fact that Alex Haase is a rookie and new to all the tracks PASS South competes on in the Southeast, expectations are high. Kyle Busch has already tested Haase’s Toyota at both Hickory and Dillon to help give the rookie a baseline set up. Haase will make the trip north on Saturday to compete in the 150 lap PASS North opener at Scarborough Maine’s Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, all in a effort to afford the young man more seat time and move him along the super late model learning curve.
Busch believes wins, championships, and more could be in Haase’s near future.
“If Alex runs well and wins a couple of races and wins the championship ultimately, it’s gonna be up to the car owner to move him up to the next series,” said Busch. “If another car owner came to me and asked me to put him in their stuff in another series, it would have to be a good situation for him. Otherwise, I’d just have to do it myself and figure out what the next step would be.”
With that kind of support, don’t be surprised to see Alex Haase have a breakout year with PASS in 2008.
The PASS North Super Late Models kick off the season on Saturday, April 19th at the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME. PASS South Super Late Model action resumes Saturday, April 26th with the Watermelon 125 at the Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, GA. For information on PASS go to proallstarsseries.com or racewithpass.com. For further information on PASS contact Alan Dietz at 704-231-2039 or technical director Scott Reed at 207-625-3230.
