Winless Busch hungry at Kentucky

Kyle Busch will attempt to win his first 2017 race Saturday 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 champion isn’t exactly panicking with a thirdplace points standing entering tonight’s 400mile race at Kentucky Speedway. On the other hand, Busch arrived here last summer with three victories in hand before adding another at Indianapolis, which now seems like an eternity since he has gone 33 starts without a win.

Fortunately for Busch, Kentucky arrived just in time to remind him why he loves the place.

He earned poles for the Cup and Xfinity races on Friday, clocking a trackrecord 190.282 mph in rain-shortened qualifying to earn the right to lead the field to green in the main 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 [tonight].”

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 race in 2011. Busch’s Cup win total is just one behind defending race winner Brad Keselowski, and another Kentucky triumph would firm up his playoff prospects unless somebody else figures out how to break through into the exclusive winner’s club that includes Matt Kenseth (2013).