Heading into the 2019 season, Kyle Busch sits at an astounding 194 wins across all three NASCAR national series — 51 each in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series and 92 in the Xfinity Series. That places the 33-year-old driver just six victories behind a major round number — 200.
Whether Busch’s quest for a combined 200 wins should compare with Richard Petty’s 200 victories (all in NASCAR’s top division) has prompted spirited debates already, but is a discussion for a later time. For now, less than a month away from Daytona’s Speedweeks, the question is whether Busch can reach the 200 threshold this season, and when and where might the historic moment take place?
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NASCAR.com’s Jessica Ruffin and Zack Albert tackle the issue in the latest of our preseason conversations ahead of the 2019 campaign:
RUFFIN: If anyone can comfortably reach six victories across all three series in a single season, it’s Kyle Busch. The No. 18 driver has averaged 12 NASCAR victories a season for the past two years, nabbing eight wins alone in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018. NASCAR’s participation guidelines put a limit on Busch’s number of races run in the Xfinity (seven races) and Truck Series (five races) and will do so this season, too. But looking at his 11 trips to Victory Lane in 2018, that doesn’t seem to affect “Rowdy” too much in the win category.
My prediction? Kyle Busch reaches his 200th win before the 2019 NASCAR Playoffs begin during the weekend of the Bristol Night Race (Aug. 15-17). It only seems fitting that the track where Busch has won 21 times in his career across all three series is the site where he taps an impressive milestone. And who knows? He could sweep the whole weekend on top of reaching No. 200.
ALBERT: Within reach? Absolutely. Last season, Busch amassed 11 national series wins (eight in the Monster Energy Series, one in Xfinity and two in Trucks). The only limits to Busch’s ability to cross this latest career milestone off the list are how quickly Joe Gibbs Racing adapts to the 2019 rules package and the participation guidelines for Busch’s chances at winning on the other tours.
In terms of when 200 might happen, here’s looking toward the end of the regular season at two storied venues — Darlington and Indianapolis — where history seems to unfold naturally.
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