"Very similar": Kyle Busch hopeful of changing the winless column in 2024 with inspiration from 2020
Kyle Busch recently spoke about the similarities between his 2020 and the current campaign. The 2x Cup champion is currently staring down at the possibility of going a full season without a win, something that hasn't happened even once in his full-time Cup Series career since 2005.
However, despite being winless in the first 33 races of the season, with only 3 left, Kyle Busch is hoping to replicate an outcome from his 2020 season. Similar to this season, in 2020, Busch was winless in the first 33 races, but then scored his first win of the season at Texas, keeping his legendary streak alive and not going an entire season without a win.
Ahead of last Sunday's race in Las Vegas, a journalist brought this to Busch's attention and asked him if the situation feels similar to 2020. He replied:
“Yeah, very similar. You know, just through the COVID year, we didn’t have practice. We just lined up and raced, and so it took us awhile through each race to be able to get ourselves the balance that I needed in the race car to be able to go out there and be fast. And it was just too late in the game, where we were just too far behind, and a lot of other guys were a little bit ahead of us. Here, or this year, we’ve kind of felt like we’ve qualified well at some places, but we don’t start the race well. So we’re kind of behind and trying to figure it out; get the balance right for the end of the race. And then by then, it’s a little too late."
Busch stated that the #8 team has faced the 'same predicament' several times. With the season coming to a close, with only three races left, he'd hope to execute and do his best to make sure the team puts its best foot forward in Homestead, Martinsville, and Phoenix.
Kyle Busch isn't paying that much attention to the championship scenario from outside the playoffs
Despite having two runner-up finishes in the last two regular season races, Kyle Busch came up short to make it to the playoffs. This meant that he missed out on competing for a championship for the first time since 2012.
Because of this, the RCR driver was asked ahead of Las Vegas if he was paying attention to the way the championship race was playing out.
"I mean at the end of the day – I guess when you’re done with Phoenix, you’ll probably look up at the pylon and see who was the furthest ahead of the four. You know who the four are, but past that, that’s about it," Busch replied.
He claimed that he's only focused on seeing 'who got it', but other than that, he doesn't put much interest or attention into the championship race.