The state of Kentucky, long known as the home to big-time horse racing, has produced many winning thoroughbreds throughout the years.
Even though neither hails from Kentucky, look no further than Kyle Busch and his crew chief Dave Rogers as two people who have a similar winning history at the state’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racetrack – Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.
Despite the fact that Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky will be just the third Sprint Cup race ever held in the Bluegrass State, the statistics for Busch and Rogers in Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races at the 1.5-mile oval speak for themselves.
Busch, driver of the No. 18 Doublemint® Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), has been quite the top-notch thoroughbred in the state widely known for its world-class horse-racing industry. Busch has notched victories at Kentucky in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions – Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck. Add his 2003 ARCA series win at Kentucky and Busch has been victorious in four racing divisions and has made quite a Kentucky home of his own in the Bluegrass State’s second-most-famous victory lane.
Busch proved his worth in the inaugural Sprint Cup race at Kentucky in 2011, when he led six times for a race-high 125 laps to be the historic first winner in NASCAR’s top series in the state.
But Busch’s winning history at Kentucky started way back at the ripe age of 18, when he dominated the 2003 ARCA race there while competing for Hendrick Motorsports. He led a race-high 91 laps en route to the victory.
He returned to the Bluegrass State the following year and found victory lane again, this time in his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at the 1.5-mile oval. In all, Busch has one win, three top-fives, and has led 311 laps in five Nationwide Series starts there.
He also won the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race to give him three top-10 finishes and 117 laps led in three Truck Series starts at the speedway.
In addition to Busch’s stellar career statistics at Kentucky, his crew chief Dave Rogers sports a record that is equally as impressive as his current driver. While Rogers’ bio lists his hometown as Marshfield, Vt., the 39-year-old crew chief absolutely owned Kentucky Speedway in 2008 and 2009 while calling the shots for JGR’s No. 20 Nationwide Series team and driver Joey Logano. In their two Nationwide Series starts together at Kentucky, Logano and Rogers won both races from the pole and led a total of 96 laps. The 2008 victory was not only the first of many for the tandem of Rogers and Logano, it was also Logano’s first career Nationwide Series win in just his third start in the series, and just one month after the young driver celebrated his 18th birthday.
This weekend’s event will mark the second of four races in 2013 that Doublemint will serve as primary sponsor for Busch. The iconic chewing gum brand’s mint paint scheme will also adorn Busch’s No. 18 Toyota at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August, along with the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., in September.
When Busch takes the green flag for Saturday night’s 400-mile race in his Doublemint colors, he’ll go to the whip once again in hopes of adding to his already stellar record in a multitude of stock-car divisions at the 1.5-mile racetrack. After all, there’s certainly something special about being able to call yourself the top thoroughbred at Kentucky.
TSC PR
- AM Racing | Hailie Deegan Dover Motor Speedway April Xfinity Preview - April 25, 2024
- RACE ADVANCE: Corey Heim at Dover Motor Speedway - April 25, 2024
- Rick Ware Racing: Justin Haley/Kaz Grala Dover Race Advance - April 25, 2024