Kyle Busch eager to finally win at Pocono
LONG POND, PA. — Kyle Busch Motorsports is bursting at the seams with NASCAR trophies.
Kyle Busch’s shop in Mooresville, N.C., is undergoing renovations, and until they are complete, his trophies have nowhere to go. Workers can’t set foot in the store, offices or the upstairs hall without tripping over trophies.
Busch, 31, has an entire case dedicated to trophies from Bristol Motor Speedway alone and every winner’s flag from his 38 career Sprint Cup victories is framed in the upstairs hallway.
He’s won at every Cup track from Darlington to Daytona, from Bristol to the Brickyard. Every track but Charlotte Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway.
Busch can knock Pocono off the list today, though he has only four career topfive finishes in 23 starts at the 21⁄2-mile tri-oval. Busch starts 16th in the No. 18 Toyota, in the same row as elder brother Kurt, who won at Pocono in June.
Kyle Busch’s best shot at winning at Pocono came last August, but he lost the lead on the last lap when his car ran out of fuel. His average Pocono finish is 19th.
“You’ve got to have everything fall into place and the stars align, and it just hasn’t quite happened here yet,” Busch said.
Busch, tied with Brad Keselowski with four wins this season, is coming off a historic weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won his second straight Brickyard 400 in dominant form, leading a record 149 of 170 laps. Coupled with an Xfinity Series victory a day earlier, Busch became the first NASCAR driver to win both poles and both races on the same weekend.
“It certainly is the best way to come to Pocono being able to race the way we did last week,” Busch said.
Only 31, the 2015 Sprint Cup champion’s best days still seem ahead.
Busch has 166 career wins among NASCAR’s top three divisions: Sprint Cup (38), Xfinity (83) and Truck (45).
With wins this season at Martinsville Speedway and Kansas Speedway, he has won races at 21 of the 23 active Cup tracks. He has multiple victories at 11 of 21 tracks.
His Indy win gave him 34 career wins at Joe Gibbs Racing, topping Tony Stewart for most on the career list.
But there is one trophy that won’t be found at KBM. His 2015 Cup championship trophy is at his home, surrounded by all the hardware that came out of his leg and foot after his accident last year at Daytona. He’s on the hunt for a champagne bottle from his championship-clinching victory at Homestead to fill with screws once inside his body. At Pocono Raceway; Long Pond, Pa.; lap: 2.5 miles
DRIVER 1. 78 Martin Truex Jr T 179.244 2. 19 Carl Edwards T 178.873 3. 27 Paul Menard C 178.671 4. 11 Denny Hamlin T 178.540 5. 31 Ryan Newman C 178.433 6. 14 Tony Stewart C 178.394 7. 2 Brad Keselowski F 178.359 8. 24 Chase Elliott C 177.571 9. 20 Matt Kenseth T 177.413 10. 22 Joey Logano F 177.151 11. 42 Kyle Larson C 177.082 12. 3 Austin Dillon C 176.835 13. 47 AJ Allmendinger C 177.322 14. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr F 177.281 15. 41 Kurt Busch C 177.183 16. 18 Kyle Busch T 177.054 17. 4 Kevin Harvick C 176.988 18. 21 Ryan Blaney F 176.880 19. 1 Jamie McMurray C 176.574 20. 13 Casey Mears C 176.478 21. 48 Jimmie Johnson C 176.091 22. 34 Chris Buescher F 176.084 23. 5 Kasey Kahne C 175.901 24. 88 Jeff Gordon C 175.706 25. 16 Greg Biffle F 175.603 26. 10 Danica Patrick C 175.404 27. 43 Aric Almirola F 174.985 28. 15 Clint Bowyer C 174.257 29. 95 Michael McDowell C 174.236 30. 7 Regan Smith C 173.826 31. 6 Trevor Bayne F 173.534 32. 38 Landon Cassill F 173.491 33. 23 David Ragan T 173.077 34. 83 Matt DiBenedetto T 172.874 35. 44 Brian Scott F 172.209 36. 98 Cole Whitt C 171.716 37. 32 Jeb Burton F 171.429 38. 30 Josh Wise C 170.451 39. 46 Michael Annett C 169.750 40. 55 Reed Sorenson C 158.615 M-make; C-Chevrolet; D-Dodge; F-Ford; T-Toyota
He broke his right leg and left foot when he crashed into a wall in an Xfinity Series race the day before the Daytona 500. He missed 11 Cup races and needed a waiver from NASCAR to qualify for the Chase.
Now he’s intent on joining the list of drivers — Richard Petty, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt among them — who have won consecutive championships.
“Kyle, from the second day he was out of surgery, he has been on a mission,” Joe Gibbs said.
NOTE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss his third straight race today. He says his concussion-like symptoms haven’t changed and his return does not appear imminent. Jeff Gordon, who came out of retirement to drive for Earnhardt last week at Indianapolis, will drive the No. 88 car again at Pocono.