Can Struggling Kyle Busch Turn His Luck Around to Revive Richard Childress’s Championship Dreams at His Toughest Track

There was a time when Kyle Busch regarded Kansas Speedway as a four-wheeled tormentor. In his first 13 Cup races there, he finished in the top 10 just twice. His debut there in 2004? A dismal 37th-place finish. 

Eleven years later, Busch managed his first top-five finish. Still, it wasn’t until 2016 that he finally enjoyed a ride to the victory lane in Kansas. A miraculous transformation turned Kansas from a dreaded jinx into a beloved challenge.

Kansas Speedway remains an enigma for Kyle Busch, two decades after his debut there

Kyle Busch had another successful outing in Kansas in May 2021. However, since then, the track has been up to its old tricks with Busch, sliding back into the realm of the enigmatic and unpredictable. He hasn’t finished in the top 25 in three out of the last four races there. As he gears up for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, the question looms: Which Kansas will he encounter this time? With an 11th-place finish in Darlington, Busch is placed 7th in the standings, teetering 20 points above the perilous elimination line for the Round of 12. 

“Overall, it was just nice to get an 11th-place finish … for what looked like was going to be a 20th. Definitely not a day that we wanted, but just survived with what we could there. Really proud of everyone at RCR and ECR [Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines] for fighting hard all day long,” Busch stated in a recent interview after the Darlington race.

Busch added, “The pit crew had some really good stops today and got us some spots on pit road. We had issues, some self-inflicted and some with our strategy, with just the luck of the draw with how the cautions fell. At least we get to live to fight another day.”

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Busch reflected on his gritty Darlington performance. But it’s a tenuous 20-point margin, especially considering his last two showings at Kansas were a 26th and a disappointing 35th, the latter being his first outing with the Richard Childress Racing team.

Yet, hope gleams on the horizon. 

Kyle Busch’s chances of breaking the “jinx” in Kansas

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Kyle Busch’s inaugural victory in the #8 RCR Chevrolet at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana—a high-downforce track like Kansas—suggests that the “jinx” could be broken again. And amidst the precarious playoff standings, Busch’s situation seems less treacherous than the drivers ranked 11 through 15: Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Kevin Harvick, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr, respectively.

Ten of the 16 playoff contenders experienced mishaps in Darlington, and Kansas is unlikely to offer a respite. Last year, nine out of the 16 faced many issues, ranging from pit-road fender benders to mysterious equipment glitches and runaway loose wheels. Kansas Speedway, with its mile-and-a-half asphalt expanse, is a demanding obstacle course where wind plays a fickle game, testing the mettle of both drivers and pit crews alike.

Speaking of Busch’s Kansas dossier, amidst the twists and turns of his career on this enigmatic track, two victories stand tall as beacons of hope. His triumphs in 2016 and 2021 are emblems of his ability to break the “jinx.” Still, they are also a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of this speedway.

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