There is no denying that Kyle Busch is one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR — regardless of the series.
In NASCAR’s three national touring series he has compiled a whopping 114 victories, 18 more wins than the next driver (Mark Martin) who has won at least once at all three levels.
However, nowhere is he more dominant than in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where he has been victorious a series-record 57 times. Six of those wins have come in 2013.
During Saturday’s 5-hour Energy 200 (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), Busch will once again look to prove that he’s the one to beat this season. Although he’s won three NASCAR Nationwide races at the one-mile track in 15 visits, Busch knows how difficult the track can be and important it is to have the perfect setup.
“Dover, being a concrete track, is challenging,” said the 28-year-old Las Vegas native.
“You’ve got to be fast through the corner. Two-thirds of your lap time is through the turn rather than down the straightaway, so you definitely have to make sure you have a good-handling race car — one that’s good in the beginning of the run on low air pressures and one that’s good at the end of the run on high air pressures, and even through traffic.”
If Busch does find Victory Lane on Saturday, he will be the quickest driver in the series to seven wins during a season. The Dover race will be the 11th of the season. Sam Ard currently holds the record as the fastest driver to log seven wins during a season when he won the 16th race of 1984 at South Boston Speedway.
Since 1982, only 11 seasons have had drivers reach the seven-win mark. It has happened in six of the past seven seasons — 2006: Kevin Harvick (nine wins); 2008: Kyle Busch (10) and Carl Edwards (seven); 2009: Kyle Busch (nine); 2010: Kyle Busch (13); 2011: Kyle Busch (eight) and Carl Edwards (eight); and 2012: Joey Logano (nine). Last year is the only year in the past five in which Busch didn’t reach seven wins. In fact, he didn’t win in the series in 2012.
A win this Saturday will also break a three-way tie between him, Todd Bodine and Carl Edwards, giving him more wins at Dover than any other driver in the series. He set a similar record last weekend at Charlotte when his first-place finish gave him his seventh track victory and broke a tie between him and Mark Martin.
It’s obvious that he’s on a mission this year to prove that 2012 was a fluke.
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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