Kyle Busch looking for first Cup victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Kyle Busch has a chance to accomplish something pretty special over the next two weeks.
Busch has 37 career Sprint Cup victories in 402 starts. He has also won at each of NASCAR’s current 23 tracks except two – Charlotte Motor Speedway and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
Those tracks, as it happens, are the next two next on the schedule: Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (where qualifying is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Thursday) and the Axalta 400 at Pocono on June 5.
It seems the month of May at Charlotte doesn’t like me too much.
Kyle Busch
Busch has been aggressive this season at checking off the boxes of this particular bucket list. He has already won for the first time this season at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Last season, he was a first-time winner at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway (where he clinched the Cup championship).
No driver in NASCAR history has won at every Cup track that currently holds a race. Others have been – or are – close. Jeff Gordon, who retired after last season, won at each track except Kentucky. The only tracks at which Jimmie Johnson has never won are Kentucky, Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Chicagoland Speedway and Homestead.
Charlotte has never been particularly kind to Busch, although he has won six Xfinity and eight Truck series races on the 1.5-mile trioval.
“I’ve been able to win there in other series and have been close a lot in the Sprint Cup car,” Busch said. “It seems the month of May at Charlotte doesn’t like me too much.”
Busch’s average finish in 24 career starts at Charlotte’s fall and spring races is an unimpressive 15.1. He has 10 top-fives, but has also not finished five races.
Still, he said Charlotte is his favorite track on the circuit.
“(It’s) my favorite track for a lot of reasons,” he said. “Just growing up watching races on TV, I loved watching the All-Star Race under the lights and the 600 with all the sparks flying. The Xfinity and Truck series has been good to me there.”
David Scott: 704-358-5889, @davidscott14
Looking for a win
Kyle Busch at Charlotte:
24 starts, 0 wins, 8,045 of 8,642 laps completed (93.1%), 907 laps led, average start: 13.1, total winnings: $3,653,754, top 5: 10 ( 41.7%), average finish: 15.1, top 10: 14 ( 58.3%), did not finish: 5.
Kyle Busch at Pocono:
22 starts, 0 wins, 3,527 of 3,932 laps completed (89.7%), 82 laps led, average start: 12.4, total winnings: $2,674,128, top 5: 4 ( 18.2%), average finish: 18.4, top 10: 8 ( 36.4%), did not finish: 5.
This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Kyle Busch looking for first Cup victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway."