Kyle Busch heads to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway with the Interstate All Battery Center logos aboard his green-and-white-striped No. 18 Toyota for Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500.
The car’s scheme represents the Interstate All Battery Center slogan “Ready for Anything,” could be a perfect mantra as the Sprint Cup Series enters its fourth race of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in this exciting and sometimes unpredictable playoff format.
The driver of the No. 18 Interstate All Battery Center Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), has proven over the years that he can get the job done at just about every racetrack in NASCAR’s top series. In fact, Busch heads into this weekend chasing a long-awaited victory at Charlotte, which would get him one win closer to winning at every track on the circuit and a step closer to successfully defending his Sprint Cup championship.
With victories at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City added to Busch’s career win list this season, he has now won Sprint Cup races at 21 of the 23 tracks at which the series competes. The only two tracks he has yet to conquer in the Sprint Cup series are Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and Charlotte, the 1.5-mile oval to which he now turns his attention. During his 2015 Sprint Cup championship season, Busch checked off Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Of the 21 different tracks where Busch has won, he has multiple wins at 12 of them.
Other drivers have come close to accomplishing the feat Busch has in his sights. Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon retired after the 2015 season one short of the accomplishment as he was unable to secure a win at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta in five career starts there. Three-time-champion Tony Stewart, who will retire at the end of this season, does not have Kentucky or Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on his career win list.
With Busch advancing to the Round of 12 of the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs after Sunday’s runner-up finish at the first-round cutoff race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, the focus Saturday night will be on getting to victory lane at a place where a win has eluded him over the years while also looking to lock his Interstate All Battery Center team into the Chase’s Round of 8. He has visited Charlotte’s victory lane a combined 14 times in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series, so the Las Vegas native certainly knows how to close out race wins in bunches at the 1.5-mile oval in the heart of NASCAR country.
Busch & Company roll into Charlotte with support from Interstate All Battery Center retail stores, as the sponsor continues its franchise expansion throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America. Interstate All Battery Center stores provide consumers with just about any type of battery, with more than 16,000 portal power solutions for all household needs. From batterires for power tools around the house, to flashlight batteries in anticipation of incoming weather, Interstate All Battery Center will have consumers ready for anything.
Interstate Batteries’ colors are already in the win column in 2016 via Busch’s victory in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, right smack in the backyard of Interstate’s Dallas headquarters.
So as Busch and his No. 18 Interstate All Battery Center team head just down the road from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Huntersville headquarters, the defending Sprint Cup champion will be looking to add Charlotte to the win column, which could be critical in his quest for back-to-back championships.
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