Kurt Busch to trade in taxicabs for a ‘real’ race car – V8 Supercar

Two American national sporting heroes, one of them a home grown Aussie, will be the first guests to drive a V8 Supercar on American soil when they team up with V8 Supercar championship contenders James Courtney and Fabian Coulthard at the Circuit of the Americas on Tuesday.

Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Kurt Busch and Australia’s most decorated Supercross rider Chad Reed will next Tuesday cut laps in the VF Commodore V8 Supercar at the stunning Austin circuit where V8 Supercars makes its debut on May 17-19.

"I'm flattered for the invite from V8 Supercars," Busch said. “Not only driving one of their style of cars was high on my list but to do it at COTA makes this a dream opportunity."

As part of this exciting day, Furniture Row Racing will bring down their Gen-6 race car to be the first NASCAR car to drive at the Circuit of the Americas track. Due to this rare opportunity to have these superstars and their cars in the Capitol, Busch will swap cars with Courtney and Coulthard.

Courtney (pictured right) this weekend became the first V8 Supercar driver to drive a V8 Supercar in America, and just the second internationally acclaimed Australian after Mark Webber to drive the COTA track, when the Commodore cuts exhibition laps at the MotoGP event.

Courtney and Coulthard flew to Texas last week on the back of HRTs form resurgence in Tasmania and New Zealand and Lockwood Racing’s dominant season so far.

Courtney and Coulthard will remain in Texas after the MotoGP weekend for a series of media and promotional engagements with Busch and Reed, including cutting passenger laps on Tuesday.

Busch is an American legend and one of the biggest names in the US. Busch, 34, has earned 24 NASCAR victories, 88 top-five and 174 top-10 finishes to go along with 15 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole awards and the 2004 Sprint Cup Series Championship title.

Busch, who also boasts an IROC championship on his impressive resume, skyrocketed to the top of the stock car racing world early in his career and has maintained a high level of performance since he burst onto the scene.

He won the Cup Series Championship in 2004, the first ever season using the "Chase for the Cup" points format, finishing just eight points ahead of Jimmie Johnson. With a 2006 win in the Nationwide Series, Busch became one of only 23 drivers with a win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions: the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series.

He currently drives the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet SS for Furniture Row Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.

Reed (pictured right) is a multi-time Supercross champion, winning the U.S. AMA Supercross Championship in 2004 & 2008. In 2009, he won the 2009 AMA 450 National Outdoor Motocross Championship, and the Australian Supercross Series for his fourth time.

"I am really excited to be given the opportunity to drive a V8 Supercar at the Circuit of the Americas. I am huge fan of V8 Supercars and it is exciting that the series is making its debut here in the USA," Reed said.

"The last time I drove a V8 Supercar it was with the old H pattern gearbox so I am looking forward to driving the Holden car of the future prototype."

After winning the Australian Supercross Championship in 2000, Reed went to Europe in 2001 to ride for Jan DeGroot’s factory Kawasaki team. Reed and his KX250 won the MX Grand Prix of Lierop and eventually finished the year second to multi-time World Champion Mickael Pichon.

In what is the ultimate “Aussie invasion," the V8 Supercars of Ford, Holden, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG will take to the track May 17-19 at Circuit of The Americas with an aggressive, do-or-die racing style that is sure to have U.S. motorsport fans hungry for more.

V8 Supercars will contest four 100km sprints at the stunning Austin racetrack with two races on Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19, preceded by a qualifying session each morning. Friday, May 17, features practice sessions and support race activities on track. The goal is to show the massive motorsport heartland what V8 Supercars racing is all about, promising to leave a lasting impact on Texan and American audiences.

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