Winning Daytona 500 Wouldn’t “Solidify or Validate” His NASCAR Career, Claims Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch has had a Hall of Fame-worthy career. Having joined NASCAR as a young and bustling hotshot, Busch is the winningest driver in NASCAR history, with 229 wins across the three national competitions. However, the Harley J Earl trophy has yet to reach his trophy cabinet. While not winning the Daytona 500 in a 19-year-long glittering Cup career might be a feat missing in his repertoire, the 38-year-old claimed that it does not put a blemish on his legacy in a post-qualifying interview at Daytona.

Kyle Busch will start fourth in Duel Race 2 and aim to secure a solid starting position for the main event. Looking to begin his second year with Richard Childress Racing on a jubilant note, the No.8 Chevrolet driver is heading into the Daytona 500 on the back of a second-place finish at the Coliseum. Despite losing to former teammate Denny Hamlin on the late restart at the Coliseum, Busch and the team have recovered winning pace after a lackluster second half of 2023.

Kyle Busch draws comparisons with Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace

Busch isn’t the only iconic driver to not win the Daytona 500. The unlucky list includes some big guns of the sport like former champions Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace, Kyle Larson, and fan favorite Mark Martin. But these drivers haven’t let that come in their way to making greatness in the sport and Kyle Busch plans to do the same.

On being asked if he would like to have the burden of being winless at the Daytona 500 off his shoulders, the #8 driver said, “I mean, it’s missing right? There’s no check mark there, but how does it do anything to solidify your career, validate the thing you’ve done or accomplished here? I don’t think so.”

Naming the legendary drivers in the same club, Kyle Busch added, “I mean, look at Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and Tony Stewart. They are some of the greats that have blue jackets that made it to the Hall of Fame that Haven’t won this race. It would certainly be nice to not worry about that going in and have this trophy at home.”

Many in the NASCAR community consider Kyle Busch as the most skillful driver to join the team since the late Dale Earnhardt. The comparisons with Earnhardt are reasonable. Looking at the success and aggressive Skillset with their imposing demeanor, Busch is a driver of Earnhardt’s mold. The 7-time Cup Series champion also had to wait for a long time before winning his maiden Daytona 500. Maybe Busch could do something along the same lines on Sunday.

When asked about the chances of it, he claimed, “Trust me, I’m well aware. Thank you very much. I hope we can talk about the same storyline on Sunday.”

Kyle Busch wouldn’t be having this conversation, had he been any more fortunate last year. Having dominated the proceedings for a long period, an overtime wreck forced him to end yet another Daytona 500 on a sad note. Addressing it on media day, the father of two blamed it on the technicalities of NASCAR.

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Busch says he has won the Daytona 500, but not under the checkered flag

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The Daytona 500 has always been an intense race. Due to the same reason, the event has had multiple unexpected winners throughout its history. In 2023, Kyle Busch was the race leader in the 200th lap when the caution flag was waved. However, luck intervened, and he was entangled in a multi-car wreck in overtime. This took away his best chance of winning the elusive trophy and paved the way for Ricky Stenhouse Jr to claim it.

Revealing his stance on the unlucky wreck, Kyle Busch stated, “I have not done that yet, although I won the Daytona 500 last year under the yellow flag, not under the checkered flag. Those damn technicalities keep coming up and getting me.”

Statistically, Busch might not be a good bet for the win. But considering his talent, he starts almost every race as one. On being asked if that’s the case for Sunday, Kyle Busch confirmed, “I would. Well, from what I’ve heard of a lot of other people around our industry this past week, there’s a lot of people that have good feelings on us this week. Maybe that’s a good omen.”

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Should that reality materialize at the weekend, Kyle Busch will experience the emotions Dale Earnhardt went through in 1998. A 19-year-long wait ending in the victory lane would be a great mention on Busch’s curriculum vitae.