It’s hard to keep a good racer down.
The last two seasons have certainly been a disappointment for Busch with only three total wins at the Cup level. To put that into perspective, his lowest wins’ count in five seasons from 2015 through 2019 was four victories in 2016. In 2018, he scored eight. With 59 career wins, he ranks as the winningest active driver by one over Kevin Harvick.
That means that last year, this 36-year-old racer caught and passed Harvick and now has his sights set on climbing as far from the field as possible. His next career wins’ milestone is 76 – if he can get there – and that will tie Dale Earnhardt Sr. for eighth on the all-time win list.
But Busch only needs one win in 2022 to tie another remarkable record. He is currently on a 17-year winning streak dating back to his rookie season of 2005. That tied him with David Pearson for the second longest streak in history. More importantly, it is one win away from the record of 18 set by Richard Petty from 1960 through 1977. Harvick ended an 11-season streak last year and Brad Keselowski is riding a current 11-year streak; they come closest to challenging Busch in terms of longevity.
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Busch’s streak almost came to an end in 2020, however. Busch’s problems began when NASCAR eliminated practice from the schedule as a measure to limit the number of crew members at the track during the COVID-19 pandemic. Practice was almost non-existent last year as well, and it would appear this is very important to Busch.
Practice returns in 2022… sort of. NASCAR has committed to brief 15-minute sessions, and while we don’t believe that will make much of a difference to most of the field, it could be critical for Busch. A driver doesn’t achieve 59 wins at the Cup level and 222 total victories in NASCAR’s combined Big Three divisions without having a lot of adaptability.
We may have gotten a glimpse of what NASCAR intends with last week’s Clash at the Coliseum format. Breaking that race into groups and allowing teams time between three sessions meant drivers could practice hard, work on their car, and practice again. It is not exactly what they have planned for points’ paying races – but one can only hope that NASCAR will evolve their rules as the season progresses.
Betting on Busch will be tricky in 2022. Last year he was the favorite once, (at Bristol with +450 odds), but he was above 10/1 mark only 13 times and was 12/1 on nine occasions; +1200 is what would be needed to place a weekly bet on Busch and be profitable if he achieves three wins.
Busch’s low odds kept those for a top-five hovering around the minus mark, but one could regularly find plus odds for a top-three and that might be the sweet spot for gamblers. While he had only two wins, Busch finished third or better in more than a quarter of his races.
Last year, Busch was ranked among the top five in PointsBet Sportsbook’s line two-thirds of the time, but his lowest odds came in before the mid-season point. In the first 11 races, he was ranked outside the top five eight times – including the first race Kansas Speedway before he won with +1200 odds.
If Busch gets off to a slow start in 2022, that pattern could repeat. Of course, after seeing just how strong he was in the Clash last week, the odds are not great that he will be underrated by traders anytime soon.
Three Best Tracks *
Richmond (6.9 in 32 attempts)
Watkins Glen (9.1 in 16)
Auto Club (9.6 in 22)
Three Worst Tracks *
Charlotte road (25.8 in 4)
Talladega (21.0 in 33)
Daytona (19.7 in 34)
* Active track, three or more starts
2021 Stats
Victories: Kansas 1, Pocono 2
Top-fives: 14 (.389)
Top-10s: 22 (.611)
Top-15s: 24 (.667)
Top-20s: 27 (.750)
2021 Finishes at or above rank = 10 (27.8%)
Other Posts Featuring Kyle Busch:
Preseason NASCAR Championship Favorites
Notable Streaks of 2021
Fastest Laps Late and Early
2021 Driver Rating
2021 Season Ending Power Rankings: 1-10
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5. Denny Hamlin: Bookends
6. Martin Truex Jr.: The Bridesmaid
7. Joey Logano: Penske’s Senior Statesman
8. Kevin Harvick: A Matter of Perspective
9. William Byron: First Half Heroics
10. Christopher Bell: Third Time’s the Charm
11: Alex Bowman: Seesaw 2021 Season, Promise Unfulfilled
12: Brad Keselowski: Career Reset
13. Tyler Reddick: Coming Into His Own
14: Austin Dillon: Running with Regularity
15: Austin Cindric: The Deep End of the Pool
16: Bubba Wallace: Learning to Walk
17: Chris Buescher: Untapped Potential
18: Kurt Busch: New Team, Same Results
19. Aric Almirola: Righting the Ship
20: Ross Chastain: Riding the Rollercoaster
21. Harrison Burton: On the Fast Track
22. Erik Jones: Schrödinger’s Race Team
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Consistency is King
24. Daniel Suarez: On Track for Success
25. Chase Briscoe: 2021 ROTY
26. Justin Haley: New Team, New Dream
27. Cole Custer: Tale of Two Seasons
28. Ty Dillon: Second Chances
29. Michael McDowell: Early Momentum
30. Corey LaJoie: Look Deeper
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