Busch died on Thursday, May 21, at just 41-years-old.

Long before the NASCAR stardom, Busch was making a name for himself right here in Wisconsin.

Busch raced three times here at the Milwaukee Mile, and dozens more times at several tracks across Wisconsin.

At the Slinger Speedway, memories tend to linger, and there are certain drivers who you can still picture flying by. 

“Just super-fast, super aggressive. Just one of those hybrid talents that don’t come around too often,” said Todd Thelen, the former owner of Slinger Speedway.

Thelen remembers Busch that way.

“He wanted to be the best and he knew he had to beat the best, so he came to win the Slinger Nationals. He didn’t come to race. He came to win,” said Thelen.

Busch was around 15 years old when he first stepped onto the tracks in Wisconsin.

“Not only did he win at the national level, he won at the local level everywhere he went. He was the real deal,” said Thelen.

Andy Monday still remembers trailing behind him.

“I tried to jump him a little bit on a restart and kinda got under his skin a little bit and he flipped me the bird down the back stretch as he went by me on the way to the win,” said Monday.

You don’t always get to meet your heroes. It’s even rarer that you get to share the track with them.

“Not every day you get to go play catch, play football with Jordan Love, but in racing, you can race against these guys and go out there,” said Monday.

While Busch built a legendary career on the national stage, those closest to short track racing say his impact reached further.

“Down to earth person that would take the time to talk to you at the driver’s meeting or in between races,” said Monday.

While there’s heaviness on the track now, the memories of those races and the person behind the wheel live on.

“Life’s short. Have fun and enjoy it,” said Thelen.