In basketball, a triple-double is the accumulation of a double-digit totals in three of the five statistical categories in a game. The most common triple-double combination is double-digit points, rebounds, and assists.
When it comes to NASCAR, Kyle Busch has single-handedly made doubles and triples a household racing term.
The driver of the No. 18 Doublemint® Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has swept the weekend of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series races at several tracks – a total of nine times, to be exact. But by far his biggest sweep came in 2010 at the .533-mile high-banked bullring known as Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where he posted the first “triple’ in NASCAR history by winning the Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series races that week.
Busch’s record still stands, and he’ll shoot for another “triple” this weekend at Bristol, armed with a “double” as the iconic chewing gum brand Doublemint will support his Sprint Cup machine in Saturday night’s Irwin Tools night race.
Busch has five Sprint Cup wins altogether at Bristol while also recording eight top-five finishes and 12 top-10s in 17 career Sprint Cup starts in northeast Tennessee’s “Thunder Valley.”
While he’s a factor anytime he makes a trip to Bristol, it’s interesting to note Busch didn’t immediately take to the place. During his rookie year in 2005, he posted finishes of 28th and 33rd. But Busch’s record in his last 15 starts at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” has been nothing short of amazing. After bringing home finishes of eighth and second in 2006, Busch captured his first Bristol Sprint Cup win in March 2007. The track was resurfaced after that race and, since then, nobody has been better at the concrete short track than Busch. He has added four more wins and a total of nine top-10s in the last 12 Sprint Cup races contested at Bristol.
This weekend’s event will mark the third of four races in 2013 that Doublemint will serve as primary sponsor for Busch. The brand’s mint paint scheme will also adorn Busch’s No. 18 Toyota during the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., next month.
After finishing in the runner-up spot at Bristol in March, it’s a safe bet Busch will again be in contention for his sixth career Sprint Cup win at Bristol, and thus, he’ll hope to have his broom handy yet again after adding another triple-double to his already gaudy numbers at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile.
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