Kyle Busch Sweet 16

There have been 15 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers who have won two or more championships since the sport was founded in 1959.

 

Kyle Busch is hoping to become the 16th this season after winning his first title in 2015.

 

But before Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Caramel Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), can contend for the championship Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he first must trek west for the penultimate race of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

 

The Can-Am 500k is this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, the 35th of 36 races on the schedule. Busch, along with Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., are already locked into the winner-take-all Championship 4 at Homestead. One more driver will be added after the Phoenix race is complete.

 

So, could this weekend in Phoenix be a throwaway race for Busch and the M&M’S Caramel team?

 

No. Absolutely not.

 

Busch finished a solid eighth in his very first outing at Phoenix in the spring of 2005, followed by his second career Cup Series victory in his next start there in the fall race that year. Coincidentally, Busch’s first Cup Series win came just 10 races prior in another desert-like setting not too far from his hometown of Las Vegas – Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

 

In 24 Cup Series starts at the mile oval known as the “Diamond in the Desert,” Busch has one win, seven top-five finishes and 17 top-10s. He’s finished no worse than fourth in his last four races at Phoenix.

 

This weekend, Busch hopes to have another solid run at Phoenix to prepare himself for the ultimate championship race in South Florida. 

 

TSC PR