LONG POND, Pa. – Should Kyle Busch win Sunday’s Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway (on NBCSN at 1:30 p.m. ET), he would join an exclusive club reserved primarily for NASCAR Hall of Fame members.
A fourth straight victory would put Busch on a list that includes Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Harry Gant, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, David Pearson, Billy Wade, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough.
Those are the drivers in the sport’s history to string together exactly four straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories.
Richard Petty holds the top two spots on the consecutive wins list, with a record 10 straight in 1967 and six in a row in 1971. Bobby Allison is the only driver to have won five straight, a feat he accomplished in 1971.
Of those who have won four in a row, Earnhardt, Elliott, Pearson, Waltrip and Yarborough already are in the Hall of Fame. Martin has been nominated for the honor, and Gordon and Johnson are likely first-ballot shoo-ins when they become eligible.
And now Busch is in a position to join that group, having won consecutive races at Kentucky, New Hampshire and Indianapolis.
“I’ve never won at Pocono, and I hope that’s about to change,” Busch said on Friday before opening Sprint Cup practice at the Tricky Triangle. “We’ve certainly had some good runs over the years—sometimes in the spring race, sometimes in the summer race—but overall, I feel like our team has come a really long way.
“I like where we’re going and where we’re at, so I can just hope that we can continue here this weekend and get ourselves a win and make it four in a row.”
Busch got a good start to the weekend later Friday when he won his first pole of the season.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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