Kyle Busch Above ‘Average’ at Richmond

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

There are 23 tracks on the 36-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. And for most drivers and teams, there are some they look forward to competing on more than others.

For Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and his team, one of those tracks at or near the top of their list of favorites is Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, site of Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400.

Busch’s numbers at the .75-mile short track tell the story. His most recent win there in May 2012 was the fourth of his career there to go with four runner-up finishes and an amazing 13 top-fives in just 19 career Sprint Cup starts in Virginia’s capital city.

The Las Vegas native has an average finishing position of 7.0 at Richmond, tops among active drivers, Next best is Kevin Harvick, whose average finish there is 8.8. Busch has completed all but one of the 7,616 laps available to him at Richmond. Of those laps completed, Busch has run in the top-15 for 6,593 laps, or 86.6 percent, which is second-most among active drivers.

While he has been a dominant force over the years at Richmond, highlighted by a strong of four consecutive spring race wins, Busch and his team had two tough outings there in 2013 that resulted in finishes of 24th and 19th. Busch and the M&M’s team quickly got back on track, however, in this season’s first trip to Richmond in April, rallying from 16th over the final eight laps to bring home a third-place finish. It was his 13th top-five finish there.

This weekend at Richmond, Busch and the M&M’s team look to get back to the level of performance they exhibited there when they won the four consecutive spring races from 2009 to 2012, which bested Richard Petty’s previous record of three spring-race wins in a row there from 1971 to 1973.

With those impressive statistics and records to back him up, it’s little wonder that a visit to the “Capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia” is one of Busch’s favorite stops on the NASCAR tour.

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