Kurt Busch, Harry Gant and Ray Hendrick enter NASCAR HOF - ESPN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For most of his career, Kurt Busch had a tough-guy persona on and off the racetrack.

But the 47-year-old Busch showed a softer side during his NASCAR Hall of Fame acceptance speech on Friday night as he paused to honor his former Roush Racing teammate Greg Biffle, who died in a plane crash along with his wife, two children and three others on Dec. 18.

«I can't put the words together, but you and I were like peanut butter and jelly when we raced Cup together,» Busch said, addressing Biffle. «And you were instrumental in helping me win a (Cup) championship.

»You will always be the Biff. Everyone be like Biff."

Busch was inducted along with fellow drivers Harry Gant and Ray Hendrick.

Busch, who won the first Cup Chase in 2004, was selected in his first year of eligibility by the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel last May.

Busch got his start driving dwarf cars in his home state of Nevada and made the fast acceleration to the Cup Series after bypassing what was then known as the Busch Series because of his talent as a driver.

«It's an amazing feeling,» Busch said. «It's a journey that this blue-collar kid from (Las) Vegas never expected. All of these trips down memory lane talking with everyone and the different teams I was with, all the great racers that I raced against. It's been an amazing journey.»

His younger brother Kyle Busch presented him for the Hall, saying he was immensely proud.

«This award is about resilience and heart and Kurt earned every bit of it,» Kyle Busch said.

Nicknamed «The Outlaw,» Busch was known for his fiery temper and often found himself at the center of controversy.

He won his only Cup Series championship at age 26 in his fourth year on the circuit. It was the first championship