The late Al Davis, former owner of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, never missed a chance to tell his players to “Just Win Baby.” While he’s widely known for his passion and commitment to winning any time he straps himself into a racecar, Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), will have a heightened sense of urgency to win starting with Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Fingers Lakes 355k at The Glen on the Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International road course. Just five races remain before the cutoff for the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, Busch finds himself outside the top-10 in the driver point standings and also currently without one of the two additional wild-card spots after a shattered brake rotor ruined his day Sunday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase, which begins Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Chase positions 11 and 12 are wild cards and are awarded to those drivers between 11th and 20th in points who have the most wins. In the event multiple drivers end up with the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker. Kasey Kahne, who’s 11th in the point standings, also holds the top wild-card spot thanks to his two victories this season, the most of any driver outside the top-10 in points. Jeff Gordon, who’s 13th in points, vaulted into the other wild-card spot with his first win of the season Sunday at Pocono. Ryan Newman, Busch and his JGR teammate Joey Logano, who stand 14th, 15th and 17th in the points, respectively, also have one win apiece this season and have five remaining races to try and surpass Gordon in wins and tie Kahne. Busch sits just 12 points behind Gordon in the driver standings but a hefty 80 points behind 10th-place Clint Bowyer. Thus, winning is his most realistic chance to make the Chase by way of a wild-card berth. The good news for Busch is that he’s won a Sprint Cup race at each of the remaining five venues on the “regular-season” calendar. In fact, the talented 27-year-old has rung up a whopping 12 total career wins at the next five races on the schedule. The Las Vegas native has five wins at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, four at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, and one win apiece at Watkins Glen, Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, and Atlanta Motor Speedway. In addition to Busch’s 2008 win at Watkins Glen, he came agonizingly close to his second Sprint Cup win on the 2.45-mile, 11-turn road course one year ago. After leading three times for a race-high 49 laps, Busch found himself in a three-wide situation on a late restart with Brad Keselowski and eventual race-winner Marcos Ambrose. Busch was forced to fall back and had to settle for a second-place finish after an otherwise dominant day by the M&M’s team. While he has proven his worth on road courses, in general, Busch will understandably be looking for redemption Sunday after being so close to winning at The Glen one year ago. So, with just five races remaining before the Chase is set, Busch will channel his inner Al Davis by shooting for wins that will vault him into championship contention. Thankfully, his track record over the left and right turns at Watkins Glen provide the perfect opportunity to “Just Win Baby” and help rally Busch into the NASCAR playoffs. TSC
