Kyle Busch Doggone Good at Richmond

The life of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver can be hectic. With 38 weekends of racing in a 40-week span, the marathon-like schedule of NASCAR’s top series can be incredibly grueling as competitors crisscross the country from as far east as Loudon, New Hampshire to as far west as Sonoma, California.

 

While Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Banfield Pet Hospital Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), and his wife Samantha live a lot of their lives in their motorhome at the track each weekend, a part of home they bring with them is their Pomeranian Yorkie named Lucy, who joined the family shortly after they were married in 2010, and a West Highland Terrier named Suzie, who Busch has owned since 2005.

 

Founded in 1955, Banfield Pet Hospital is the largest privately owned veterinary practice in the world. The practice has more than 850 hospitals in the United States and Puerto Rico, most of which are located inside PetSmart stores. And, good news for the Busch family in case there is a need for veterinary service while they’re on the road, chances are there is always a Banfield Pet Hospital nearby.

 

As Busch heads to Richmond (Va.) International Speedway, site of Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400, his record is doggone good at the .75-mile short track. His most recent win at Richmond in May 2012 was the fourth of his career there to go with four runner-up finishes and an amazing 14 top-fives in just 21 career Sprint Cup starts in Virginia’s capital city.

 

The Las Vegas native has an average finishing position of 7.1 at Richmond, tops among active drivers. Next best is Kevin Harvick, whose average finish there is 8.6. Busch has completed all but one of the 8,416 laps available to him at Richmond. Of those laps completed, Busch has run in the top-15 for 7,332 laps, or 87.1 percent, which is second-most among active drivers.

 

This weekend at Richmond, Busch and the Banfield Pet Hospital team look to get back to the level of performance they exhibited there when they won four consecutive spring races from 2009 to 2012, which bested Richard Petty’s previous record of three Richmond spring-race wins in a row 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” gives Busch a doggone good chance at his third victory of the Sprint Cup season.

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