Imagine a Super Bowl champion surviving the pandemonium of a 200-mph race, changing tires in eight seconds flat, and leaping over a pit wall. That’s Josh Bush, a tire-changing whiz for Daniel Suárez’s No. 99 Trackhouse Racing team and a former Denver Broncos defender who lifted the Lombardi Trophy alongside Peyton Manning in Super Bowl 50. Bush exchanged tackles for lug nuts, and he’s sharing details of this crazy career change ahead of the Atlanta Spring Race. Forget about the typical post-NFL jobs like coaching or TV. Bush has no childhood dreams about NASCAR. However, he has discovered a new rush on pit road after catching two crucial tackles in that historic Super Bowl victory over the Carolina Panthers.
He said to Xavier Walton, “Sunday will be a good atmosphere, man.” “You still feel the rush of adrenaline. It’s similar to football in that you catch an interception, everything stops, and you just let go and execute. The stop is over the next thing you know. In eight seconds, we will be making stops. That speed? Bush’s accuracy enabled Suárez to finish second at the Quaker State 400 in Atlanta in 2023 and win by a narrow margin in 2024, albeit it’s a far cry from football glory. However, the mental game is the same. He said, “They say, ‘Do it till you forget it,’ and you got them in your ear.”
“You’re not even thinking when you jump off the wall; you’re just reacting and following your training.” The journey wasn’t simple. After playing for the Jets and Bills in the NFL, his friend Austin Dillon enticed him to join the pit crew of Richard Childress Racing. The All-ACC athlete, who once stumped Russell Wilson, struggled at initially but eventually improved and joined Trackhouse in 2022.
Now, Bush’s journey—from Super Bowl to speedway—shows what grit can do. Will there be an encore in Atlanta? We’re applauding!
