NASCAR bride Samantha Busch enjoying life as the wife of racer Kyle Busch
BROOKLYN, MI – There’s never a dull moment for Samantha Busch.
After NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Michigan International Speedway on Friday, Kyle and Samantha -- who were married Dec. 31, 2010 -- left for the Montreal race at 10 a.m. Saturday. It took a plane, helicopter, boat and car to get them there and back on time for the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday.
“It was pretty ridiculous,” Samantha said. “I figured we might as well throw a train in there somewhere to hit all the modes of transportation.”
Even though the couple isn't exactly roughing it in the motorhome they furnished together, Samantha said life on the road with a NASCAR racer is chaotic at times. But she seems to almost prefer it that way.
“It’s hectic, always packing, unpacking and doing laundry,” she said. “The best thing is just getting to do what he loves every weekend and getting to be a part of it.”
On top of following a NASCAR racer around the country, Samantha managed to pursue a master’s degree online after receiving a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Purdue University. She now works with NDS Nutrition and InStyler, maintains her own website www.samanthabusch.com, and updates her lifestyle blog regularly.
“I wanted to keep doing what I love while still being on the road doing what he loves.”
Kyle, 27, and Samantha, 26, first met at a racetrack in 2007. Busch said it wasn’t love at first sight, at least for her, because they had met at a young age.
“I was in college, going into my senior year at Purdue, so we kept it really casual at first,” she said.
The two communicated by phone, text and email for several months and Samantha said she could tell the relationship had grown into something more.
“There was one night that we were on the phone for two and a half hours … that’s when I was like, ‘Wow, I kind of like him,'" she said.
Several things about Kyle caught her attention, one being how he was with his two West-Highland Terriers, Suzie, 9, and Kelly, 11.
Samantha laughed as she described one example when Kyle gave her flowers and a card on Mother’s Day from Suzie and Kelly. The cards were stamped with their paw prints, which he had colored the bottoms of with a marker.
“They had black Sharpie all over them for days,” Busch said.
She grew to love the passion Kyle had for his racing career and how he constantly goes out of his way to make her happy.
“It’s that side that people don’t really get to see," she said.
Samantha said she and Kyle have a pretty normal pre-race routine, which includes breakfast together, appearances with the media and fans, and going to a church service at the track. Both Samantha and Kyle were raised Catholic and she said religion is something they both fall back on amid the chaos surrounding the sport.
When it comes to starting a family, she and Kyle have talked a lot on the subject but are still a few years from having any children.
“If it were to happen, that’d be great, but we’re not trying or planning right now,” she said smiling ear to ear.
For now, Samantha is happy with a different kind of family addition – a new Pomeranian Yorkie named Lucy, which Samantha said is prepping them for parenthood by waking them up several times a night.
Family is big for Samantha. Her large Italian family has always been close and having to miss out on weekend gatherings is one of the most taxing for the Chicago native.
To make up for it, she said she keeps in contact with her mother and she and Kyle do fun things on the side when he’s not racing.
“With so many different track locations, we really get to go out and explore the country," she said. "I know with a normal job, all that wouldn’t be possible."