There have been 15 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers who have won two or more championships since the sport was founded in 1959.
Kyle Busch is hoping to become the 16th this season after winning his first title in 2015.
But before Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Caramel Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), can contend for the championship Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he first must trek west for the penultimate race of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.
The Can-Am 500k is this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, the 35th of 36 races on the schedule. Busch, along with Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., are already locked into the winner-take-all Championship 4 at Homestead. One more driver will be added after the Phoenix race is complete.
So, could this weekend in Phoenix be a throwaway race for Busch and the M&M’S Caramel team?
No. Absolutely not.
Busch finished a solid eighth in his very first outing at Phoenix in the spring of 2005, followed by his second career Cup Series victory in his next start there in the fall race that year. Coincidentally, Busch’s first Cup Series win came just 10 races prior in another desert-like setting not too far from his hometown of Las Vegas – Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
In 24 Cup Series starts at the mile oval known as the “Diamond in the Desert,” Busch has one win, seven top-five finishes and 17 top-10s. He’s finished no worse than fourth in his last four races at Phoenix.
This weekend, Busch hopes to have another solid run at Phoenix to prepare himself for the ultimate championship race in South Florida.
How much confidence do you have heading to Phoenix this weekend?
“We really look forward to heading back to Phoenix with how well we ran there in the spring. We had the best car there, but a caution came out and hurt us, putting us in a tough spot on whether to pit or not. That’s how it goes, sometimes. That place wasn’t the best for our company years ago, but we’ve worked really hard at JGR on our cars and setups there and we are really much better there as a company. I’m really proud of all the work and progress we’ve made, so Adam (Stevens, crew chief), the guys and I will work hard this weekend and hope it puts us in the right position in the end for another win. I’m looking forward to getting out there and hope we can carry some momentum with this M&M’S Caramel team, myself, and everybody at JGR as we try to win a championship at Homestead the following week.”
What is your outlook for Phoenix after how hard Joe Gibbs Racing has worked to improve there?
“Yeah, that’s the key right there – we’ve worked a ton about everywhere, but especially at Phoenix, and we’re getting to where we want to be. We almost won that race in the spring, so I feel good about our chances again this weekend. From there, all the focus will be on Homestead and what we can do to win there. It’s nice to get to Homestead, but what matters is if you win it.”
What does it take to be successful at Phoenix?
“You’ve got to have a good car, but you’ve got to have good brakes. You’ve got to have a good-turning car, and you’ve got to have a good car that can accelerate off of turn two and go fast down the backstretch. There’s a lot involved at Phoenix, but heading there with our M&M’S Caramel Toyota Camry will be interesting to see how the race plays out.”
In addition to 10 Xfinity Series wins at Phoenix, you also won in your second Cup Series start at the mile oval. Do you enjoy racing at Phoenix?
“Phoenix is a pretty neat place, even though they made some changes with the repave. For some reason, I’ve always run well there. I don’t know if it’s that I’m comfortable being back close to home on the West Coast, or what. I always have a little more fan support out there, as well. As for the track itself, you have two distinctly different sets of corners at Phoenix.”
Notes of Interest:
- The Can-Am 500k at Phoenix Raceway will mark Kyle Busch’s 461st career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start and his 25th NASCAR Cup Series start at Phoenix.
- Busch has career totals of 43 wins, 27 poles, 160 top-five finishes, 239 top-10s and 14,338 laps led in 460 career Cup Series races. His most recent Cup Series win came two weekends ago at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Busch’s most recent pole, the 27th of his career, came in September at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. He has eight poles this season, a career high.
- Busch has one win, seven top-five finishes and 16 top-10s and has led a total of 699 laps in 24 career Cup Series starts at Phoenix. Busch’s average Phoenix finish is 12.5.
- Championship 4 Bound: With his win two races ago at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Busch clinched a berth into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the third year in a row. The 2015 Cup Series champion will look to bring home his second championship on Nov. 19 in the season finale in South Florida.
- 17 races and counting: Busch is on a streak of 17 consecutive races in which he’s led at least a lap, a streak that started in July at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. The consecutives races of leading laps is the longest such streak since Jeff Gordon led 19 races in a row back in 1995. The longest streak of consecutive races led in the modern era was set by Bobby Allison, who led at least one lap in 39 consecutive races that spanned the 1971 and 1972 seasons.
- Starting Up Front: Busch captured another pole in September at New Hampshire, which was the eighth of 2017 for the Las Vegas native. Eight poles is the most Busch has captured during any season of his career with 29.6 percent of his career poles coming this season alone. In fact, prior to 2017, the most poles Busch had captured in a season was three, which he did on two different occasions –2013 and 2014.
- 43 Career Cup Series Wins: With his Cup Series win at Martinsville, the 43rd points-paying win of his career, Busch now sits alone in 17th on the all-time Cup Series win list, and one win behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott for 16th all-time. With his 40th Cup Series victory at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August, Busch became the fourth-youngest driver to reach 40 Cup wins at 32 years, 109 days, behind only Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, and Herb Thomas.
- Trimming the List: With wins at Martinsville and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City added to the list last season, and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway crossed off the list in July, Busch has won Cup Series points races at 22 of the 23 tracks at which the series competes. The only track remaining to conquer in the Cup Series is Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Busch was the winner of the All-Star non-points race at Charlotte back in May but is still chasing a points-paying Cup Series victory there. During his 2015 Cup Series championship season, Busch checked off Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Of the 22 different tracks where Busch has won, he has multiple wins at 12 of them.
- All-Time JGR Wins Leader: With his Brickyard 400 win in July 2016, Busch passed three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart for most all-time Cup Series wins for JGR. Busch now has 39 wins for JGR to Stewart’s 33 following his most recent Martinsville win.
- 183 and Counting: Busch enters Phoenix with 183 career wins among NASCAR’s top three divisions – Cup (43), Xfinity (91) and Truck (49) following his Cup Series win two weeks ago at Martinsville.
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