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Kyle Busch has been so impressive since coming back from that brutal injury in 2015, he has been a different driver on and off the track. He is winning a lot, his attitude has changed (in my opinion) and he is contending for championship each season. He has been in the thick of things at Homestead since Nascar employed this new format. In years past, he would try to hard and take himself out of contention early in the playoffs. Now, he is not going for the home run every time. He is more worried about getting the finish for that race, before focusing on the next one. That alone will come with time with any driver out there. Since joining JGR in 2008, he has won at least 3 times in 8 of those 10 seasons. In 2018, I have very high expectations for him. If he isn't contending for wins on a regular basis and at Homestead at November, then he simply isn't living up to his potential!
Obviously, the intermediate tracks will be a major strength for him in 2018. It is no secret that JGR as whole has been really strong on the intermediate tracks. This is where they have the biggest advantage over the field, in my opinion. Over the past couple seasons, this organization has been dominant and Kyle Busch is one of the drivers leading the charge! The hard part is just picking a couple of tracks to breakdown, since he's so damn good everywhere. However, if I had to pick, it would be at Texas, Cali and Kentucky. Those are my top 3 tracks among the intermediate tracks. Obviously there are plenty of other tracks that you could also consider.
Kentucky is not only one of his best intermediate tracks, but it is also one of his very best tracks on the schedule. It is hard to sit here and say there's a better driver out there at this place. Maybe Brad Keselowski? And I have a hard time convincing myself that Brad is better than Kyle at Kentucky speedway. He is that damn good, his record here is just simply amazing! In 7 career starts, he has never finished worse than 12th place. And that came in 2016, where he finished 12th. In his other 6 starts, he has 6 top 10 finishes. In 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017 he led at least 112 laps in each race. So in 4 of 7 races, Rowdy has led pretty much half of the race. In 4 of his last 5 races at Kentucky, he has finished in the top 5.
Cali is a great track, despite his struggles at it sister track (Michigan), Rowdy has been impressive throughout his career. Since joining JGR in 2008, he had made 12 starts. In 8 of those races, he has finished in the top 8. During that span, Rowdy has compiled 6 Top 3 finishes. From March 2011 to March 2014, he finished in the top 3 in every single race. Including two wins coming in 2013 and 2014. He finished 8th in last season's race, even though he was probably top 5 good for the event. He led 7 laps on his way to that 8th-place finish.
Then there is Texas Motor Speedway! Despite of pair of finishes outside of the top 10 in 2017, it has been a very strong racetrack for him in recent seasons. From November 2012 to November 2015 (8 races), he had 7 top 5 finishes. Since the 2013 season, he has posted 2 wins at Texas. I will always remember that 2013 race. One of my all-time favorite races at this track. It was a really fun race. Truex Jr dominant on the long runs, Busch was the guy to beat on the short runs. With a guy named Jeff Gordon constantly running 3rd for most of the night behind those two. In the end, there was about a 15 or 20 lap-dash to the finish. Busch was the man that came out on top.
The shorter flats will be once again a strong type of track for Kyle Busch in 2018. And his best track is Richmond. He loves this place and it loves him right back, too. During his career, he has compiled 7.4 career average finish. In 19 career races with the #18 team, he has posted 11 Top 5 finishes. Including 9 Top 3 finishes during that 19-races span. In his last 5 races at Richmond, he has compiled 4 finishes in the top 9. He also has 2 finishes in the top 2 during that 5-race span. In his last 7 races, Rowdy has produced 3 Top 3 finishes. Including 2nd place finishes in September 2015 and April 2016. The numbers just don't do it justification how freaking good this man is here! Ridiculous!
Phoenix is also pretty good for Rowdy and he doesn't get enough credit for how well he runs here on a yearly basis. In his last 5 races at Phoenix, he has finished 7th or better in every race. Prior to finishing 7th in last November's race, he had 4 straight top 4 finishes from November 2015 to March 2017. He has been pretty good here throughout his career, but not great. In his last 12 races, he has finished in the top 5 in half of his races. Problem is? He haven't scored a race win since the 2005 season at Phoenix. That eventually gonna change and there's a obvious reason for the lack of wins. Look how dominant Jimmie Johnson was before the repave. And look how dominant Kevin Harvick has been since the repave. It is very hard to overcome those things, since those drivers simply been untouchable for period of times. Good news? Harvick seems to be losing a little touch with that dominance of late. It might be time for a new driver to step up and take control. It might be Rowdy time in the desert!?
New Hampshire, like the other two tracks, Rowdy has been very strong on. I would go far to say that New Hampshire is in Rowdy's top 5 tracks. It is not crazy when you look at his track record of late here. In his last 10 races at New Hampshire, he has compiled 6 Top 3 finishes. From July 2013 to July 2014, he had 3 straight 2nd place finishes. The following July (in 2015), he went to victory lane. In September 2016, he followed it up with 3rd place. Then the following September race (in 2017), he took his #18 car back to victory lane. His success lately at New Hampshire is so impressive and I would be shocked if it suddenly stopped. Especially since his biggest competition has been his teammate Matt Kenseth. He is no longer in the picture. Guess who is sitting really pretty?
Martinsville is where I say that Kyle get very little respect at and it should be considered a crime. He is easily a top 3 driver at this place any time we come here! He is top 5 machine at the paperclip and his numbers over the past couple seasons are really impressive. In his last 5 races at this place, he has 5 straight top 5 finishes. Over his last 10 races a this track, he has compiled 7 Top 5 finishes. Not only that, but he also has compiled 3 Top 2 finishes in his last 4 races at this track. Overall, he haven't finished worse than 15th since way back in the 2012 season. We are entering the 2018 season now.
Bristol always been a personal favorite track for Kyle Busch, but he has had a lot of bad luck at this track since the repave. But before the repave, he was a monster a this place. There was a stench, where you could have renamed it Kyle Busch Motor Speedway. He was that automated that you didn't even have to run the race. He was just money here. From 2008 to 2011, he won 4 times in a 6-race span in utter dominance fashion. His most impressive race in that span was that 2008 race in the summer time. He led 415 of 500 laps on his way to 2nd place finish. He followed it with 4 wins in his next 5 races. After that, we only saw him score 2 top 5 finishes since that span of races. In March 2013 (2nd) and winning the past August' s race. I think from that 2nd place finish in 2013 and his win in 2017, there a lot of bad luck involved. He was competitive in the top 5 at some point in every single one of those races.
Indy has been very good in recent years to Rowdy, other than in 2017. When he had the dominant racecar all long. Until him and Truex Jr wrecked while running 1-2. Of course that happened, that entire race turned into a complete shitshow. Because that was the only logic thing to happen. Regardless, he has been great at Indy over the past 4 or 5 seasons. It took him awhile to start contending for wins at this place, but he has been locked in lately. Since the 2012 season (6 races), Rowdy has posted 4 Top 2 finishes. He scored wins in 2015 and 2016. Prior to that, he had 2nd place finishes in 2015 and 2013. In 7 of his last 8 races overall at Indy, he has finished in the top 10. Of course, his only race outside of the top 10 was his most recent one. And I have already explained what happened there. I would 100% expect a bounce back year at Indy in 2018!
In last August's race at Pocono, Rowdy checked off another track on his win list. He went to victory lane for the first time in his career. Outside of that win, Rowdy haven't found that much success in terms of final finishing position. Just 10 other top 10 finishes in his 25 other races. In 5 of his last 12 races at Pocono, he has finished 21st or worse. Since 2012, he has no top 5 finishes outside of his lone win. With all of that said, he has performed well in recent races at Pocono. He led 100 laps in the June (in 2017), before eventually finishing 9th. He had the car to beat, before the cars behind him switched up the pit strategy on the final restart. Fresh tires lined up behind was a recipe for diaster for Rowdy. Soon as Harvick and Blaney got around him, he slid backwards big time in those final few laps. Not the first time a win has slipped away here, either. In August 2015, he had a really good shot at the win. He was leading with a lap or two left in the race, before he ran out of fuel. A lot of drivers ran out of fuel in that race, so it wasn't much of a big deal. He finished 21st in that event.
Plate tracks are a weak spot for Rowdy, but it is not a bad type of track though. He will at times in the past, he has gone on impressive stenches at both Daytona and Talladega. He is a former winner at both tracks, too. At Talladega, he has been up and down but he has some really good trends going at the spring race. Since the 2012 season, he has been really good in the spring (May) races. In his last 5 spring races at Talladega, he has posted 4 finishes of 12th or better. Including finishes of 3rd (2017), 2nd (2016), 12th (2014), 37th (2013) and 2nd (2012). In 3 of his last 5 races overall, he has compiled 3 finishes of 11th or better. At Daytona, his good finishes has been very limited since that 3-race top 5 streak from July 2007 to July 2008. Since start of 2009 season (17 races), he has only posted 5 top 12 finishes and only 7 Top 15 finishes overall during that span. With 6 of his last 10 races ending in 19th or worse.
Road courses has been very interesting for him as well. He has been awesome at one and questionable at the other. At Watkins Glen, he has some amazing career stats. In 11 of his last 12 races, he has finished in the top 10. In 5 of his last 10 races, he has finished in the top 5. Outside of his 40th place finish in 2015, he has literally zero races where he wasn't a contender for the win. He has been a contender every single year at Watkins Glen. I don't see any reason why that would suddenly change. At Sonoma? Things haven't been as smooth for him. He has three straight top 7 finishes at this track currently. Including an win in 2015. Prior to that win in 2015, he had just one top 15 finish between 2009 and 2014. Back in 2008, he scored another win at Sonoma. To say the least, he has been all over the map at Sonoma. Good news? It looks like he is finally starting to see the light at tend of the tunnel at the tricky road course.
***All stats are from DriverAverages.com
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
Kyle Busch has been so impressive since coming back from that brutal injury in 2015, he has been a different driver on and off the track. He is winning a lot, his attitude has changed (in my opinion) and he is contending for championship each season. He has been in the thick of things at Homestead since Nascar employed this new format. In years past, he would try to hard and take himself out of contention early in the playoffs. Now, he is not going for the home run every time. He is more worried about getting the finish for that race, before focusing on the next one. That alone will come with time with any driver out there. Since joining JGR in 2008, he has won at least 3 times in 8 of those 10 seasons. In 2018, I have very high expectations for him. If he isn't contending for wins on a regular basis and at Homestead at November, then he simply isn't living up to his potential!
Obviously, the intermediate tracks will be a major strength for him in 2018. It is no secret that JGR as whole has been really strong on the intermediate tracks. This is where they have the biggest advantage over the field, in my opinion. Over the past couple seasons, this organization has been dominant and Kyle Busch is one of the drivers leading the charge! The hard part is just picking a couple of tracks to breakdown, since he's so damn good everywhere. However, if I had to pick, it would be at Texas, Cali and Kentucky. Those are my top 3 tracks among the intermediate tracks. Obviously there are plenty of other tracks that you could also consider.
Kentucky is not only one of his best intermediate tracks, but it is also one of his very best tracks on the schedule. It is hard to sit here and say there's a better driver out there at this place. Maybe Brad Keselowski? And I have a hard time convincing myself that Brad is better than Kyle at Kentucky speedway. He is that damn good, his record here is just simply amazing! In 7 career starts, he has never finished worse than 12th place. And that came in 2016, where he finished 12th. In his other 6 starts, he has 6 top 10 finishes. In 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017 he led at least 112 laps in each race. So in 4 of 7 races, Rowdy has led pretty much half of the race. In 4 of his last 5 races at Kentucky, he has finished in the top 5.
Cali is a great track, despite his struggles at it sister track (Michigan), Rowdy has been impressive throughout his career. Since joining JGR in 2008, he had made 12 starts. In 8 of those races, he has finished in the top 8. During that span, Rowdy has compiled 6 Top 3 finishes. From March 2011 to March 2014, he finished in the top 3 in every single race. Including two wins coming in 2013 and 2014. He finished 8th in last season's race, even though he was probably top 5 good for the event. He led 7 laps on his way to that 8th-place finish.
Then there is Texas Motor Speedway! Despite of pair of finishes outside of the top 10 in 2017, it has been a very strong racetrack for him in recent seasons. From November 2012 to November 2015 (8 races), he had 7 top 5 finishes. Since the 2013 season, he has posted 2 wins at Texas. I will always remember that 2013 race. One of my all-time favorite races at this track. It was a really fun race. Truex Jr dominant on the long runs, Busch was the guy to beat on the short runs. With a guy named Jeff Gordon constantly running 3rd for most of the night behind those two. In the end, there was about a 15 or 20 lap-dash to the finish. Busch was the man that came out on top.
The shorter flats will be once again a strong type of track for Kyle Busch in 2018. And his best track is Richmond. He loves this place and it loves him right back, too. During his career, he has compiled 7.4 career average finish. In 19 career races with the #18 team, he has posted 11 Top 5 finishes. Including 9 Top 3 finishes during that 19-races span. In his last 5 races at Richmond, he has compiled 4 finishes in the top 9. He also has 2 finishes in the top 2 during that 5-race span. In his last 7 races, Rowdy has produced 3 Top 3 finishes. Including 2nd place finishes in September 2015 and April 2016. The numbers just don't do it justification how freaking good this man is here! Ridiculous!
Phoenix is also pretty good for Rowdy and he doesn't get enough credit for how well he runs here on a yearly basis. In his last 5 races at Phoenix, he has finished 7th or better in every race. Prior to finishing 7th in last November's race, he had 4 straight top 4 finishes from November 2015 to March 2017. He has been pretty good here throughout his career, but not great. In his last 12 races, he has finished in the top 5 in half of his races. Problem is? He haven't scored a race win since the 2005 season at Phoenix. That eventually gonna change and there's a obvious reason for the lack of wins. Look how dominant Jimmie Johnson was before the repave. And look how dominant Kevin Harvick has been since the repave. It is very hard to overcome those things, since those drivers simply been untouchable for period of times. Good news? Harvick seems to be losing a little touch with that dominance of late. It might be time for a new driver to step up and take control. It might be Rowdy time in the desert!?
New Hampshire, like the other two tracks, Rowdy has been very strong on. I would go far to say that New Hampshire is in Rowdy's top 5 tracks. It is not crazy when you look at his track record of late here. In his last 10 races at New Hampshire, he has compiled 6 Top 3 finishes. From July 2013 to July 2014, he had 3 straight 2nd place finishes. The following July (in 2015), he went to victory lane. In September 2016, he followed it up with 3rd place. Then the following September race (in 2017), he took his #18 car back to victory lane. His success lately at New Hampshire is so impressive and I would be shocked if it suddenly stopped. Especially since his biggest competition has been his teammate Matt Kenseth. He is no longer in the picture. Guess who is sitting really pretty?
Martinsville is where I say that Kyle get very little respect at and it should be considered a crime. He is easily a top 3 driver at this place any time we come here! He is top 5 machine at the paperclip and his numbers over the past couple seasons are really impressive. In his last 5 races at this place, he has 5 straight top 5 finishes. Over his last 10 races a this track, he has compiled 7 Top 5 finishes. Not only that, but he also has compiled 3 Top 2 finishes in his last 4 races at this track. Overall, he haven't finished worse than 15th since way back in the 2012 season. We are entering the 2018 season now.
Bristol always been a personal favorite track for Kyle Busch, but he has had a lot of bad luck at this track since the repave. But before the repave, he was a monster a this place. There was a stench, where you could have renamed it Kyle Busch Motor Speedway. He was that automated that you didn't even have to run the race. He was just money here. From 2008 to 2011, he won 4 times in a 6-race span in utter dominance fashion. His most impressive race in that span was that 2008 race in the summer time. He led 415 of 500 laps on his way to 2nd place finish. He followed it with 4 wins in his next 5 races. After that, we only saw him score 2 top 5 finishes since that span of races. In March 2013 (2nd) and winning the past August' s race. I think from that 2nd place finish in 2013 and his win in 2017, there a lot of bad luck involved. He was competitive in the top 5 at some point in every single one of those races.
Indy has been very good in recent years to Rowdy, other than in 2017. When he had the dominant racecar all long. Until him and Truex Jr wrecked while running 1-2. Of course that happened, that entire race turned into a complete shitshow. Because that was the only logic thing to happen. Regardless, he has been great at Indy over the past 4 or 5 seasons. It took him awhile to start contending for wins at this place, but he has been locked in lately. Since the 2012 season (6 races), Rowdy has posted 4 Top 2 finishes. He scored wins in 2015 and 2016. Prior to that, he had 2nd place finishes in 2015 and 2013. In 7 of his last 8 races overall at Indy, he has finished in the top 10. Of course, his only race outside of the top 10 was his most recent one. And I have already explained what happened there. I would 100% expect a bounce back year at Indy in 2018!
In last August's race at Pocono, Rowdy checked off another track on his win list. He went to victory lane for the first time in his career. Outside of that win, Rowdy haven't found that much success in terms of final finishing position. Just 10 other top 10 finishes in his 25 other races. In 5 of his last 12 races at Pocono, he has finished 21st or worse. Since 2012, he has no top 5 finishes outside of his lone win. With all of that said, he has performed well in recent races at Pocono. He led 100 laps in the June (in 2017), before eventually finishing 9th. He had the car to beat, before the cars behind him switched up the pit strategy on the final restart. Fresh tires lined up behind was a recipe for diaster for Rowdy. Soon as Harvick and Blaney got around him, he slid backwards big time in those final few laps. Not the first time a win has slipped away here, either. In August 2015, he had a really good shot at the win. He was leading with a lap or two left in the race, before he ran out of fuel. A lot of drivers ran out of fuel in that race, so it wasn't much of a big deal. He finished 21st in that event.
Plate tracks are a weak spot for Rowdy, but it is not a bad type of track though. He will at times in the past, he has gone on impressive stenches at both Daytona and Talladega. He is a former winner at both tracks, too. At Talladega, he has been up and down but he has some really good trends going at the spring race. Since the 2012 season, he has been really good in the spring (May) races. In his last 5 spring races at Talladega, he has posted 4 finishes of 12th or better. Including finishes of 3rd (2017), 2nd (2016), 12th (2014), 37th (2013) and 2nd (2012). In 3 of his last 5 races overall, he has compiled 3 finishes of 11th or better. At Daytona, his good finishes has been very limited since that 3-race top 5 streak from July 2007 to July 2008. Since start of 2009 season (17 races), he has only posted 5 top 12 finishes and only 7 Top 15 finishes overall during that span. With 6 of his last 10 races ending in 19th or worse.
Road courses has been very interesting for him as well. He has been awesome at one and questionable at the other. At Watkins Glen, he has some amazing career stats. In 11 of his last 12 races, he has finished in the top 10. In 5 of his last 10 races, he has finished in the top 5. Outside of his 40th place finish in 2015, he has literally zero races where he wasn't a contender for the win. He has been a contender every single year at Watkins Glen. I don't see any reason why that would suddenly change. At Sonoma? Things haven't been as smooth for him. He has three straight top 7 finishes at this track currently. Including an win in 2015. Prior to that win in 2015, he had just one top 15 finish between 2009 and 2014. Back in 2008, he scored another win at Sonoma. To say the least, he has been all over the map at Sonoma. Good news? It looks like he is finally starting to see the light at tend of the tunnel at the tricky road course.
***All stats are from DriverAverages.com
Twitter - @JeffNathans18