Bluegrass is greener
Kyle Busch happy to be back in Kentucky
SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch hopes his Kentucky Speedway magic has enough shelf life to put him back in victory lane.
He’ll have two chances to find out after discovering there’s plenty in reserve.
The 2015 NASCAR Cup Series champion isn’t exactly panicking with a third-place points standing entering tonight’s 400-mile race at Kentucky Speedway. On the other hand, Busch arrived here last summer with three victories in hand before adding another at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which now seems like an eternity because he has gone 33 starts without a win.
Fortunately for Busch, the circuit’s visit to Kentucky arrived just in time to remind him why he loves the place.
On Friday, he earned pole positions for the Cup and Xfinity series races, clocking a track-record 190.282 mph in rain-shortened qualifying to earn the right to lead the field to green in the top-tier event.
“Certainly, this place has just trended well for me and my team and everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing over the years,” Busch said, “and hopefully we can continue that pattern tomorrow night.”
Busch has been Kentucky’s most dominant driver with two wins each across all three NASCAR national series, including the 1.5-mile track’s inaugural Cup Series race in 2011. (Only Brad Keselowski, with three victories, has more Cup Series wins at the track.) Another Kentucky triumph would firm up Busch’s playoff prospects unless somebody else figures out how to break through into the exclusive winner’s club that also includes Matt Kenseth (2013).
“We certainly think we have as good a shot as any to get back to victory lane there,” said Busch, who has led 437 laps in six Cup Series starts at Kentucky. “It’s a place we get excited about, for sure.”
The challenge facing fellow drivers this weekend is finding the formula on a track that has added yet another wrinkle.
Not content with unveiling a resurfaced, reconfigured layout for last year’s event, Kentucky added another layer of asphalt last October to seal cracks that resulted in so-called “weepers” after showers.
There were no such problems in Thursday night’s rain-delayed Camping World Truck Series race. Reviews after two Cup Series practices under clear skies Friday were encouraging on many levels.
“The repave here last year, even (at) Texas this year was much better, more forgiving than a typical repave,” said Kenseth, who will start third after clocking 189.740 mph in a Toyota. “I feel like they’re making progress on that, whatever they’re doing. I think the racing will be OK.”
How much Kentucky’s latest change levels the field, so to speak, and opens the door for a new winner remains to be seen. Considering there have been four first-time champions this season and seven different winners in as many races, seeing a fresh face smiling with the checkered flag wouldn’t be shocking.
“There have been a lot of different winners this year, so that would be the trend,” driver Landon Cassill said. “Anytime you race on a new surface, the races are pretty unpredictable, so I’d call for a pretty unpredictable race on Saturday night.”
The race might be a bit more sentimental for Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he makes what is expected to be his final Kentucky start. Earnhardt has posted two topfive finishes and won the 2013 pole here, though he also has made his feelings known about the track’s formerly bumpy surface. Speedway general manager Mark Simendinger joked the facility made improvements that have ended that discussion, leaving Earnhardt to develop the right package to challenge for a win.
Such an outcome would obviously please Earnhardt’s legion of fans eager for a happy farewell, especially since Kentucky turned out to be his finale last season before concussion-related symptoms led him to shut it down for 2016.
Though 22nd in Cup Series points this year and riding a 54-race drought dating to November 2015, he is happy to be healthy again and hungry to prove how far he has come — no matter where he finishes.
“It reminds me about how much we had to overcome and how much rehab went into trying to get healthy,” Earnhardt said. “When you start racing this year, you kind of forget about last year. Little things like this will bring those memories back and remind you to be thankful and fortunate.”
Kenseth out at JGR?
Xfinity postponed
Kenseth, an accomplished veteran driver, said he has no job lined up next year and likely has no future at Joe Gibbs Racing.
“I’m not really worried about it, but as of today, I do not have a job for next year. Hope to still be racing,” Kenseth said before qualifying began Friday. “I think I’ve got some wins left in me and hopefully (can) race for championships. Right now, I’m focusing on finishing up this year.”
Kenseth has two Daytona 500 wins among his 38 career victories in the Cup Series, and he won the points championship in 2003. He is in his fifth season driving for JGR and his 18th overall, but he does not believe returning to the No. 20 Toyota is an option for 2018. Erik Jones is likely to be moved into that car from Furniture Row Racing, Gibbs’ sister team.
“I do not think I will have the option to return to race at JGR next year, unfortunately,” the 45-year-old Kenseth said.
One possibility is replacing the retiring Earnhardt at Hendrick Motorsports, or even sliding into the No. 5 car should Rick Hendrick decide to release Kasey Kahne. But Kenseth would likely be filling a place until a younger driver is ready, and that could be sooner rather than later.
Beyond saying JGR wasn’t an option, Kenseth wouldn’t tip his hand.
“I probably already said too much about what I’m not doing next year, so I don’t really have anything to talk about what I am doing at this point,” he said. “At this point, I don’t have anything going on next year and (am) trying to get focused on running better and winning races.”
Kenseth is 11th in points with six top-10 finishes in 17 starts in 2017. All four Gibbs drivers are winless in the Cup Series this season.
The Xfinity Series race was rescheduled for noon today after severe thunderstorms threatened the area shortly before the green flag dropped Friday night.
Thursday night’s rain-delayed trucks race began three hours late and concluded early Friday morning. Christopher Bell, whose No. 4 Toyota is owned by Busch, held off Brandon Jones to win.
Cup Series qualifying had just concluded its second round Friday evening when dark clouds gathered over the track and led officials to cancel that session and quickly postpone the Xfinity race to a noon Eastern start today.
Busch — who was sixth in the trucks race — will begin on the pole in a Toyota after running a fast lap of 181.935 mph in qualifying to top Erik Jones, who clocked 181.635 mph to earn the second spot.