Entering playoffs without a win, defending NASCAR Cup champion looking to ‘KFB’ it
.JPG "Driver Kyle Busch walks along pit road during qualifying prior to the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday, May 24, 2020, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)")
Kyle Busch, NASCAR’s defending Cup Series champion, has coined two catchphrases this season: “KFB” and “It’s still 2020.”
The first came in response to a question asked on air in July about how Busch was able to drive his damaged No. 18 Toyota through the infield grass at Texas Motor Speedway and still emerge with a fourth place finish. Busch’s response was a quick three letters: His initials, with an implied curse word in the middle for emphasis.
Two weeks later, another Buschism caught on after the two-time Cup champion slammed into the wall at New Hampshire with tire trouble and exited the race early. Busch posted his third of five DNFs this season, to which he said, “It’s still 2020.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is tied for ninth place with this year’s regular-season champion Kevin Harvick on the all-time NASCAR Cup wins list, but he’s gone on an unexpected winless streak all season. He heads to the 2020 playoffs this weekend at Darlington ranked 14th out of the 16 drivers, with only three additional playoff points, and as he described, a monkey on his back.
“It’s frustrating. It’s aggravating. It’s kind of a let down,” Busch said. “You’re wondering what’s wrong. You’re wondering where to look. What rock to look under to turn things around. It’s just crazy the way this year’s gone for us and just unforeseen circumstances really.”
Busch said earlier this year that his team has struggled to find the right setup with the lack of practice, a format that will continue throughout the playoffs, but the grid is returning to tracks it raced at earlier this season and Busch is no stranger to making surprise comebacks. He has an opportunity to reverse course in the final 10 races and end his season with his former catchphrase.
Neither Busch nor his competitors are discounting that happening, either, especially since Rowdy’s history has proven his ability to thrive as an unlikely championship contender.
“Here’s the bottom like with Kyle,” No. 4 driver Harvick said. “He broke his leg, came back, missed nine, 10, 11 races, whatever it was, and won a championship, so it’s not like they haven’t been in some sort of situation like this before.”
Harvick was referring to Busch’s 2015 championship run in which he missed 11 races after a severe crash at Daytona. Busch rehabbed his way back from a broken leg and foot, missing just fewer than half the races in the regular season, to eventually win the championship title. Last year, Busch went on a 21-race winless streak, pointed his way through the playoffs, then won the Final Four race at Homestead-Miami for his second championship trophy. Some of his playoff competitors have listed him as a “Dark Horse” this season.
“You never know what could happen,” said No. 12 driver Ryan Blaney, ranked seventh in playoff points. “Obviously, Kyle’s not had the best of years, but it’s Kyle Busch and that team can turn it around any given weekend.”
Busch admitted it’ll take a “Tony Stewart-type performance” over the next few months, referring to Stewart’s 2011 championship in which the former Cup driver didn’t win a race in the regular season, then won five times in 10 races for his third Cup title.
But Busch isn’t looking that far ahead yet. He said his highest priority heading into playoffs is simply securing a win first. His team, led by crew chief Adam Stevens, is targeting the first round of races at Richmond and Bristol to make that happen.
“I look at Darlington as, that’s a place we can go to, we can run the top five pretty good there,” Busch said. “Richmond, Bristol, those are great opportunities for us to score our victories, so you get two stage wins and a win at Richmond and Bristol both, and boom, you’re right back in the playoff picture.”
Although Busch doesn’t seem to have lost the confidence he’s known for (“The last time I checked, we’re still last year’s reigning champions”), his brother, Kurt, said that the younger Busch is putting additional pressure on himself to get that win this year, which could either help or hurt his performance as the season winds to a close.
“There’s still opportunity (for Busch) there,” Harvick said. “So a lot of that’s going to come down to how their cars perform and how much better they’re going to be with the playoff cars compared to the regular season cars and, really, Kyle’s approach from a mental standpoint and how much they can leave everything behind them.”
It will be a different reset mentality in the playoffs for Busch than for Harvick or JGR’s Denny Hamlin, both of whom have charted opposite hot-streak paths this year. But Busch said that mentality suits him. He’s never been one to shy away from his haters.
“We were an underdog, if you will, in that final race (last year) and we won again,” Busch said. “So if that’s what it takes to win these things, then sure, sign me up. Put me in that underdog spot and let’s go get it done.”
Busch said he foresees the Round of 12 providing the team’s biggest hurdle throughout the playoffs. His team struggled at Las Vegas this year, and Talladega and the Charlotte ROVAL are always unknowns. It just takes one, though, and Busch is still racing with the opportunity to reverse the 2020 narrative.
“We’ve got the team, crew chief, the sponsors, everybody, that we can make anything happen,” Busch said. “We’ve just got to go out there and do it.”
So now the NASCAR world waits to see if Busch can KFB it for the next 10 races and ultimately determine which catchphrase will define his season.
