Kyle Busch From Tricks to Treats at Martinsville

By:
On:
In: NASCAR Cup Series News

It’s almost time for Halloween and, for Kyle Busch, there are memories of a time when not many things were spookier than having to make one of his semiannual visits to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

That’s because, before a three-race stretch starting in the spring of 2008, the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver who will sport a special M&M’s Halloween Fun Size paint scheme for Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 never finished better than 24th at the .526-mile paperclip-shaped oval.

Of the 23 venues that will host Sprint Cup events in 2013, Busch has won at least once at 20 of those venues in at least one of NASCAR’s top three divisions – Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck. There are only three current Sprint Cup tracks – Martinsville, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway – where Busch has not scored a victory in any of NASCAR’s top three series.

Despite the lack of a Martinsville grandfather clock in his trophy case, Busch has plenty of reasons for optimism this weekend, especially considering how he has been able to pick up his game at Martinsville ever since being paired with crew chief Dave Rogers.

Busch finally busted through the 24th-place barrier at NASCAR’s shortest oval with a solid fourth-place finish in the fall of 2009 and, after beginning his first full season with Rogers at the helm in 2010, Busch started posting strong finishes at Martinsville beginning with another fourth-place run in October of that year. In his next trip to the tricky Virginia short track in March 2011, Busch led a race-high 151 laps before scoring his career-best Martinsville finish of third. And, in October 2011, he led another race-high 126 laps before being collected in an accident not of his own doing late in the race.

Indeed, Busch feels like the M&M’s team keeps getting closer and closer to that elusive win at Martinsville with each return. Even though there is still a blank in the win column, Busch’s Martinsville resume now includes eight top-five finishes and nine top-10s in his 17 Sprint Cup starts there, with back-to-back finishes of second last fall and fifth this past spring heading into this weekend. That makes it four top-five finishes in his past seven starts at the Southern Virginia short track.

Even more reason for optimism is that Busch and the M&M’s team are coming off a solid fifth-place finish Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway that allowed him to gain two spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings, where he now sits 26 points behind the new leader, five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

As the Sprint Cup Series returns to Martinsville for another Halloween weekend celebration, will it mean a trick, or a treat, for Busch this Sunday? Despite the lack of a win there, Busch has reason to believe it might finally be time to grab the ultimate treat at Martinsville – his first grandfather clock – as the Chase heats up for the final four races of another exciting season.

TSC PR

Speedway Digest Staff
Follow Me
Latest posts by Speedway Digest Staff (see all)
Post Views: 67