NASCAR
Will Talladega Be the End or a Continuation for Kyle Busch’s Hot Start to 2019?
2019 is shaping up to be the year of Kyle Busch in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. So far this year, the Las Vegas native has yet to finish worse than 10th. He has 3 wins, 599 laps led, and an average finish of 3.9 through 2019’s first quarter, in short the 18 is looking unstoppable. However, this weekend’s race at Talladega could derail Busch’s hot start to the year.
Kyle Busch’s Talladega Stats
In 27 career starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Busch has 1 win, 7 top 10s, and 234 laps led. Kyle’s average finish at Talladega is also his worst on the circuit at 20.7. His sole Talladega victory came 11 years ago, in his first season at Joe Gibbs Racing. That Talladega win was Busch’s second of 8 wins in 2008, as he had a very hot start in his first year at JGR. Since then however, Talladega has been hit or miss for the 2015 champ. In the 20 Dega races since his win, Kyle Busch has 14 lead-lap finishes, including 2 top 3 results during the last 3 years.
Perhaps the closest Busch has been to another Talladega win since 2008 was this race 2 years ago. On the last lap the 18 was leading the pack until Ricky Stenhouse Jr. motored his way by for his first career win. Busch would finish 3rd that day, following a P2 result from the Geico 500 in 2016.
Talladega Superspeedway is far from a track that Kyle Busch has mastered and will dominate. With the new rules package this weekend, nobody knows exactly what to expect on Sunday. Should Kyle finish Talladega in the top 10, he will make another historical stat. Busch has the chance to open 2019 with 10-straight top 10s. No driver has achieved this feat since Morgan Shepherd went 11-for-11 to open 1990.
Tune in Sunday to see if Talladega is another breakout run or a speed bump for the 18. Geico 500 coverage begins at 2 PM EST on Fox, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Busch’s hot start to 2019 has already set several records, can Talladega keep him from further success?
Follow along for Talladega updates @PeterStratta, and @T101_NASCAR.
