Kyle Busch finds speed again in Kansas victory
Welcome back, Kyle Busch.
The two-time Cup Series champion looked like the driver of old Sunday at Kansas, winning a pair of late restarts and surviving an overtime finish to win for the 58th time in his Cup career.
And, of course, he won a race called the Buschy McBusch Race 400.
Yes, you read that correctly.
In March, race sponsor Busch let fans pick the official race name. Eventually, the long list of submissions was cut down to four: The Busch Latte 400, the Nectar of the Cobs 400, the For the Farmers 400 and the Buschy McBusch Race 400.
And, well, you see what we picked. “Heck, I just remembered, (this is) the Buschy McBusch race,” Busch said after the win. “The Busch won it, what do you know. Right on.”
Bottoms up!
First gear
It’s no secret that Busch has struggled since his championship in 2019, winning just once last season.
The veteran was off the pace again this year, falling behind Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. early on before slowing creeping his way back up the leaderboard over the past few races.
Everything came together for Busch at Kansas, where he held off a hard-charging Truex and Kevin Harvick with two laps to go to put his No. 18 back in Victory Lane.
For the Busch family, the win couldn’t have come at a better time.
Last week, Busch’s wife, Samantha, announced that they were once again unsuccessful in their most recent pregnancy. The couple, who do have one son, Brexton, have been open in recent years about their struggles with infertility.
“It’s hard sometimes,” Busch admitted. “You just have to keep persevering, keep digging and putting your focus forward to be able to come out here and win this thing.”
Second gear
Busch not only won the Buschy McBusch Race, but he did so on his birthday! Talk about an afternoon at the track.
The 36-year-old joined Cale Yarborough Sunday as only the second driver in NASCAR history to win on his birthday more than once. Busch’s other birthday win came in 2009.
If anybody can guess the track I’ll send you a Busch light. Take a few minutes to think about it.
Third gear
Winning on your birthday is hard, but so is winning at least one race every single year for nearly two decades.
Busch has now done both.
With his win at Kansas, the two-time Cup Series champion has now won at least one race every season dating back to 2005.
The 17-year streak puts Busch in a tie for second place with David Pearson, and leaves him just two winning seasons away from overtaking King Richard Petty at the top of the list. Petty won at least two races in a record 18 consecutive years from 1960 to 1977.
Fourth gear
For those of you keeping count, Busch’s win at Kansas gives us 10 different winners through 11 races.
My partner, Ken Willis, made fun of me a few weeks ago for actually thinking that we could 16 different winners this season. Well, ahem, we’re getting awful close.
With 15 races left in the regular season, guys like Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick are still searching for their first win. There’s 13. Add in a few realistic wild cards, like Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch, and you’re there.
I don’t think I’m ready to say we get to 16 just yet, but it’s becoming pretty apparent that we’re not going to have someone pile up seven or eight wins this season.
And finally, the answer to the trivia question? Richmond.
Cheers!