"Rowdy was like a bad boy" - Samantha Busch recalls first impressions of Kyle Busch on their NASCAR race date

Samantha Busch, Kyle Busch's wife, shared her first impression of the driver on their first NASCAR race date. She felt uneasy seeing him during her college days, describing the driver, a.k.a Rowdy, as a "bad boy".

Samantha is a 38-year-old Indiana native who married No. 8 Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch in December 2010. The couple share two kids, including Brexton Locke who is seen climbing up the ranks in Bandoleros.

In a two-part Instagram story, Samantha Busch explained how she met Kyle when she was still a junior in college. She shared that a promo agency brought her to her first NASCAR race where she met Kyle.

“My first NASCAR race was when I met Kyle. So I was a junior in college. I worked for a promo agency, and they would send us either to Chicago or Indy for all sorts of events,” Samantha said.

Her job at the track was to check the IDs of fans and interact with them to get them excited about the race. She met the NASCAR driver that day but it took a couple of days before finding out who he was.

“Kyle and I met that day, and then when I found out a couple days later, like exactly who he was and what he did, I was like, Uh oh,” Samantha shared.

Samantha admitted feeling hesitant to meet Kyle Busch for his bad boy image. At the time, they were using either a phone or email to communicate.

"You know, with a name, like, Rowdy, and he was, like, a bad boy. I was like, 'Oh, I don't know how this is gonna go for me,'" she said

Eventually, Samantha Busch felt comfortable and went to a NASCAR race in Texas.

“When I felt comfortable, he's like, ‘Are you finally gonna come to a race?’ And I'm like, ‘Okay’.”

Samantha Busch was expecting trouble on their NASCAR race date but the day went smoothly.

“And I was like, Okay, if sh*t hits the fan, like, at least I can go somewhere. Well, sh*t didn't hit the fan. And now you know, what is it? 16, 17, years later, two kids, whatever you want to say, here we are.”

Samantha Busch shared the story of how she met her now-husband, Kyle Busch - Source: @samanthabusch on Instagram

Since becoming married in 2010, Samantha Busch has witnessed the highs of Kyle Busch’s career. Perhaps the biggest milestone they shared was when the driver won two NASCAR Cup Series championships (2015 and 2019).

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“I wanted it so bad” - Samantha Busch after Kyle Busch missed the playoffs for the first time in 11 years

While Samantha Busch has been sharing high moments with her husband, she also sticks with him through the lows. This season, Kyle Busch hasn’t secured a single win yet, costing him a spot in the playoffs. In turn, he missed the postseason for the first time since 2012.

After NASCAR’s final race at Darlington Raceway where Kyle finished 2nd, Samantha expressed her emotions for her husband and the No. 8 team, saying:

“Ugh, my heart hurts for the [8] team. From the calls to the stops to the driving, they dug hard all night. I wanted it so bad for them,” Samantha Busch wrote in an Instagram post.

She continued by saying how proud she was seeing her husband fight for wins.

“Proud to see the strides they made over the past few weeks and watching Kyle contend for the win these last few races.”

With the 63-time Cup Series race winner yet to secure a victory this year, his 19-year streak of winning at least a single race in a season could end. He only has six races left to park his car in victory lane, with the YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway next on the schedule.