Wild behind the wheel, Can the NASCAR champ pull his reputation out of a tailspin?

Kurt Busch is a wild dude. The exact kind of crazy you’d expect from a NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

Born in Nevada, Kurt was raised in racing alongside his brother and 2015 Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch. Their father Tom was also a NASCAR driver.

Busch has long been a divisive, often unpopular character in the sport. In fact, so has his brother Kyle. Since winning the 2004 title as a young driver, Kurt has struggled to overcome the fallout from a string of angry outbursts at fellow racers and the media.

Suspended at the start of the 2015 season due to a domestic violence charge brought by his former girlfriend, NASCAR reinstated Busch after three weeks when a judge refused to press charges due to a lack in evidence.

It’s a tough cycle to break. Feeling hounded by the press and hated by fans. A high-pressure sport determined by split-second margins, aggression on a hairtrigger. When best-laid plans are smashed into a wall or blown out like a tire, someone sticks a camera into your face and you’re primed to explode.

Busch’s reputation for borderline driving increased in spectacular style when he set off a 17-car wreck on May 1 this year in the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Working his way through the pack, he tapped Jimmie Johnson’s back bumper, sending him into the wall and spinning back to wipe out most of the trailing cars.

Several vehicles caught on fire and the track was a mess, but Busch managed to slip through to stay with the 13 surviving cars. “I didn’t feel like I hit him all that much and the next thing I know he was sideways,” said Kurt afterwards.

Jimmie Johnson felt differently. “He was bump-drafting me and caused that wreck and just kept hitting me and finally ended up taking me out in the process. That was aggressive there.”

Talladega Superspeedway is infamous for huge wrecks. It’s a fast track with long straightaways that have seen many crashes. Cars left scraping along the road upside down. Flipping up into the air. All in glorious slow-motion and in eye-popping HD.

As driver Joey Lagano said after the race, “I can’t wait to get out of this place.” Usually at Talladega, racers will drive conservatively to stay in for the final lap. On May 1, that balance was shaken by the specter of rain. That meant everyone on the track was in a constant battle for in-race position in case the event was called.

The extra pressure may have contributed to Busch tapping Johnson a little too much. The race saw 35 out of 40 cars involved in some form of crash. Unfortunately for Kurt, his lapse in patience wrecked 17 cars and has his name back in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Jackass.