Q 1

PLAYBOY: NASCAR didn't invent the ball cap, but it has taken that hat to the next level. Just how many caps do you don after a win?

Kurt Busch: You'll go through 30 sponsor hats during the hat dance in victory lane. When sponsors pay you the money they do, you're going to wear those hats. They fit your head real good. Our team has about a dozen sponsors, NASCAR has its sponsors, and the racetracks have theirs. Some want specific photos. Coca-Cola wants me doing a chug -- with label out and hat on, mind you. I have a huge personal collection, mainly baseball hats. I'm heavily into the Chicago Cubs, and baseball hats have a low profile and a clean fit. The trucker style has that mesh. But I do wear one of those, a John Deere, when I mow my lawn with my John Deere tractor. I'm from Las Vegas originally, but I've grown to be a country boy.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: Is there a sponsor you couldn't imagine driving for?

Kurt Busch: It would suck to be sponsored by Viagra when you're 26 years old. Mark Martin's cool, but he's able to blend in with the marketing for that brand. It's a tough question because sponsors pay the bills and allow us to race no matter what name is on the car.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: NASCAR has generated its share of dynasties -- Petty, Earnhardt and Jarrett. Is there an auto-racing gene?

Kurt Busch: You catch the racing bug from your family. That's how most of us get involved. My dad raced, and there was always a race car in our two-car garage. One year he won 15 out of 16 races. That was in Las Vegas, where he raced primarily. You almost have to win if you want to break even. I didn't start racing till I was 15. I had my own little homemade-style go-kart, and Dad taught me how to drive it. I was a hands-on crew guy for him, doing tires, changing oil. I was the grunt. Mom thought it was too dangerous, but she went to work for our tire money when I was racing.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: You studied pharmacy in college. Were you trying to deny your inner race car driver?

Kurt Busch: I was trying to make sure I had my priorities straight -- go to school and race as a hobby. I was doing okay in college, struggling a little bit, and it looked as though the medicine wasn't as interesting as the racing. Every time I looked around, I noticed I was at a racetrack and my books were on the backseat of my Volkswagen Bug. Racing was beginning to take over.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: In your rookie year Dale "the Intimidator" Earnhardt flashed you the finger. Did you feel that was an honor, a salute to your aggressive driving style?

Kurt Busch: It was February 2001. That was the inaugural Daytona 500 for me. It was confusing at first. I was minding my own business in my lane, and he changed lanes. I may have crowded him a little bit. [laughs] I thought, What did I do? If he's mad at me, I obviously did something wrong. That was his last race. He crashed in the last corner of the last lap and passed away at the hospital. It was not talked about until later. Now it's great to be able to laugh about it. It was an honor to get the bird from the Intimidator in his last race.