GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Former NASCAR champion Kurt Busch climbed out of his dragster with a huge smile on his face, then got mobbed by crewmembers.
He might as well have been in Victory Lane.
Busch celebrated a narrow defeat in his professional drag-racing debut Sunday, far from the emotions he would have shown had his day ended so early in a NASCAR race.
But Busch was a rookie in his first pro event, facing a seasoned veteran and merely trying to have some fun during NASCAR's open weekend. So this loss was a big win - for Busch, for the NHRA Gatornationals and for the often-overlooked Pro Stock division.