Kyle Busch Third Time’s a Charm

The first two races contested on the new racing surface at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City were not kind to Kyle Busch. But, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Kansas for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, he’s hoping the third time is a charm.

Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), has plenty of reasons for optimism heading into the fourth race of the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup as he is coming off three consecutive top-five finishes to start NASCAR’s playoffs.

The Las Vegas native sits third in the standings, just four points behind five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and 12 points behind JGR teammate and current points leader Matt Kenseth.

On top of his strong start to the Chase, Busch’s optimism also grows knowing there are some changes in the tire Goodyear will bring to Kansas this weekend. Busch got a chance to participate in a tire test at Kansas in mid-July and felt the M&M’s team learned some valuable lessons trying out Goodyear’s new “dual zone tread” technology. Goodyear also opted not to bring the same left-side tire that has given Busch fits over the first two races on the repaved surface at Kansas, and teams will get an additional four-hour test Thursday afternoon to gather additional information leading into the typical practice and qualifying schedule Friday and Saturday.

Now would be an opportune time for Busch to make a breakthrough at Kansas as he has at all but a handful of tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit. Busch has won at 17 of the 23 venues at which the Sprint Cup Series competes. The only six tracks Busch has failed to reach victory lane in the Sprint Cup Series are Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Kansas.

Despite the dry spell at Kansas in NASCAR’s top series, Busch has tasted success at there in NASCAR’s second tier of competition – as is the case at most racetracks on the Nationwide Series schedule – with a victory in 2007, a runner-up finish in 2009, and a pair of third-place runs in 2006 and 2010. The best he has to show for his 12 visits on the Sprint Cup side, however, is a seventh-place finish in 2006.

So, as Busch heads to the Heartland of America this weekend, he hopes his current hot streak, coupled with changes to the racing tire, will help make Sunday’s third outing his best one, yet, as his title quest continues in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

TSC PR