LONG POND — Winning three straight races — and four of the last five — has Kyle Busch in position to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup despite missing the season’s first 11 races.
It also gives him a chance to make history this weekend at Pocono Raceway.
A victory in Sunday’s Windows 10 400 would make Busch the eighth driver since 1972 to win four races in a row.
Martin Truex Jr. also is looking to make history this weekend. After winning the June race at Pocono, he will attempt to become the eighth driver to capture both races at the 2.5-mile triangular track in Long Pond in a season.
The streak vs. the sweep. It gets under way today with Sprint Cup Series practice from 11 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. and qualifying at 4:45 p.m.
Jimmie Johnson was the last driver to win four straight races in 2007. Jeff Gordon did it in 1998. Others on the list include Mark Martin (1993), Bill Elliott (1992), Harry Gant (1991), Dale Earnhardt (1987), Darrell Waltrip (1981) and Cale Yarborough (1976).
Richard Petty holds the NASCAR record for consecutive victories with 10 during the 1967 season. In the 1971 season, Petty won six straight races and Bobby Allison won five straight.
While much of the focus of Busch’s streak has been on him getting into the top 30 in the point standings to be eligible for the Chase, he said he has been able to realize the historical aspects of it.
“It feels good to be in that group of names, and obviously those guys are all champions in their own right and have built the sport to what it is today,” Busch said. “We’d love nothing more than to be able to go to Pocono this weekend and be able to capitalize on another victory and make it four in a row and knock off another race track that I have yet to score a win. It would be pretty cool.”
For the streak to continue, Busch will have to do it at a track that has been feast or famine for him.
Pocono is one of five tracks where the driver of the No. 18 Toyota has yet to win in the Sprint Cup Series; Martinsville, Charlotte, Kansas and Homestead are the others. In 21 career starts at Pocono, he has four top-five and eight top-10 finishes, including ninth place in June. His overall average finish is 18.3.
“We either hit it or we don’t,” Busch said. “It’s a tricky race track to try to hit. I’m not exactly sure what things or traits you have to have in your car exactly, but I thought we had a decent run there this spring. I felt like we had a third- or fourth-place car. I messed up a couple of restarts and finished ninth, so that wasn’t too terrible. But, you know, we definitely would like to get to Victory Lane there for sure.”
Even if he is unable to extend his winning streak, Busch doesn’t believe it will derail his efforts to make the Chase over the final 10 races. He is 23 points out of 30th place and has five races left after Pocono to try to get into the top 30. At those five tracks — Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, Darlington and Richmond — Busch has a combined 13 wins.
“Those places I’m really looking forward to,” he said.
Busch’s comeback performance has been nothing short of remarkable.
He broke his right leg and left foot in a serious crash during the NASCAR Xfinity Series opener at Daytona. Busch admits he thought his season was done and that it would take a full year to recuperate and recover.
But his rehabilitation progressed quicker than anticipated and Busch was able to return for the All-Star Race at Charlotte in May.
“Getting back in the race car, it maybe took a couple weeks to kind of knock the rust off and get a feel for everything again,” said Busch, who still needs surgery in the offseason to remove plates in his left foot and screws in his right leg. “Once we got that kind of all out of the way, it seems like everything has just been coming together.”
Busch credits the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization for his winning streak as well as his relationship with crew chief Adam Stevens. He said he and Stevens talked constantly when Busch was sidelined.
“I think that really helped fortify a relationship as much as it could without me being in the race car,” Busch said.
As for Truex, he led a race-high 97 laps in the No. 78 Chevrolet to win at Pocono in June and highlight his stellar season.
Since NASCAR started visiting Pocono twice per season in 1982, seven drivers have swept both races: Bobby Allison (1982); Bill Elliott (1985); Tim Richmond (1986); Bobby Labonte (1999); Jimmie Johnson (2004); Denny Hamlin (2006); and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2014).
“That’s a stout group of drivers and it would be pretty special to be included with them,” Truex said. “After winning there last month how can you not feel good and upbeat about returning to Pocono? We’re going to have a big target on our back but that’s OK. We’ll use everything we learned last time and more to hopefully achieve a Pocono sweep.”
Truex’s win at Pocono was one of 14 top-10 finishes in the season’s first 15 races. The driver from Mayetta, New Jersey, stumbled a bit in the next four races, placing 42nd at Sonoma, 38th at Daytona, 17th at Kentucky and 12th at New Hampshire. But he got back on track last week at Indianapolis, finishing fourth in the Brickyard 400. He ranks fifth in the standings with 668 points.
“The three unique corners at Pocono are all different and the challenge is to figure out a way to make your car work in each of them,” Truex said. “Conditions for this Pocono race will most likely be different, especially with the weather being hotter than in early June.”
NASCAR victory streaks
Four consecutive wins in
NASCAR’s modern era (since 1972)
1976 — Cale Yarborough, Sept. 12 to Oct. 3 (Richmond, Dover, Martinsville, North Wilkesboro)
1981 — Darrell Waltrip, Sept. 27 to Nov. 1 (Martinsville, North Wilkesboro, Charlotte, Rockingham)
1987 — Dale Earnhardt, March 29 to April 26 (Darlington, North Wilkesboro, Bristol, Martinsville)
1991 — Harry Gant, Sept. 1 to Sept 22 (Darlington, Richmond, Dover, Martinsville)
1992 — Bill Elliott, March 1 to March 29 (Rockingham, Richmond, Atlanta, Darlington)
1993 — Mark Martin, Aug. 8 to Sept. 5 (Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, Darlington)
1998 — Jeff Gordon, July 26 to Aug. 16 (Pocono, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, Michigan)
2007 — Jimmie Johnson, Oct. 21 to Nov. 11 (Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix)