The season of Kurt Busch after 16 races

When the season started, Kurt Busch stood atop the NASCAR world by stretching his fuel and winning the 59th running of the Daytona 500.

Running second behind Kyle Larson on the final lap, he made his move jumping to the high side rounding Turn 1, just as Larson’s fuel cell ran dry, to assume the lead and drove on to take the checkered flag.

He and his team followed the tradition observed by the teams that win Lord Stanley’s Cup in the National Hockey League and took the Harley J. Earl trophy on a “world tour.”

“When Earl and I went out on a boat ride on Lake Norman it was in May,” Busch said. “He looked at me and said, ‘Hey man, I’m tired. I want to hang out with the other trophies in the trophy room.’ When he was hanging out with the crew guys they didn’t do a lot of things on social media with him that should have been done.”

But as happens every year, the end of Speedweeks means the weekly grind of the season truly starts. And his season, in a nutshell, has been hit or miss.

He followed up his win with a seventh at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but went four straight races with finishes no better than 24th, including getting caught in a multi-car wreck at Martinsville Speedway.

This poor run took him from first in points to 19th.

Busch ended his anemic run with a 10th at Texas Motor Speedway and his season started to stabilize, with poor finishes coming every other race.

That’s not even an exaggeration. Since Texas, he’s finished 25th at Bristol, eighth at Richmond, sixth at Talladega, 19th at Kansas, sixth at Charlotte, 37th at Dover (after getting loose and collecting Brad Keselowski early in the race), fourth at Pocono, 12th at Michigan and seventh at Sonoma.

Since his 10th-place at Texas, he’s moved from 19th to 14th in points.

Meeting with the media in the Daytona International Speedway deadline room, Busch said while winning the Daytona 500 and hoisting the Harley Earl trophy “was a special moment and the highlight of my career,” it’s not something to rest on.

“To start off winning the biggest stock car race in the world and to have the chance to hoist up the Harley J. Earl trophy, that was a special moment and the highlight of my career. That isn’t something to rest on,” Busch said. “I would say a few weeks after that, we were slightly hungover, not necessarily literally. I just seemed like a fog. The energy I get sent on a media tour. Tony Gibson lives here in the shadows of Daytona International Speedway. All of us were so excited. We’re ordering rings, flags. We’re taking the Harley J. Earl trophy to Ford’s headquarters, Monster’s headquarters, Haas’ headquarter…there was a lot going on. Once we settled in and learned the balance of our Ford and how things were changing here and there, quite honestly, I think we’ve done great. In half the races this year we have a top-10 finish. Harvick won last week on a road course. For us to win at a superspeedway shows the versatility that Stewart-Haas has. We have to focus on the mile-and-a-halves and making sure we are best prepared for when the playoffs start”

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

Tucker White
Tucker White
I've followed NASCAR for well over 20 years of my life, both as a fan and now as a member of the media. As of 2024, I'm on my ninth season as a traveling NASCAR beat writer. For all its flaws and dumb moments, NASCAR at its best produces some of the best action you'll ever see in the sport of auto racing. Case in point: Kyle Larson's threading the needle pass at Darlington Raceway on May 9, 2021. On used-up tires, racing on a worn surface and an aero package that put his car on the razor's edge of control, Larson demonstrated why he's a generational talent. Those are the stories I want to capture and break down. In addition to NASCAR, I also follow IndyCar and Formula 1. As a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, I'm a diehard Tennessee Volunteers fan (especially in regards to Tennessee football). If covering NASCAR doesn't kill me, down the road, watching Tennessee football will. I'm also a diehard fan of the Atlanta Braves, and I lived long enough to see them win a World Series for the first time since 1995 (when I was just a year old). I've also sworn my fan allegiance to the Nashville Predators, though that's not paid out as much as the Braves. Furthermore, as a massive sports dork, I follow the NFL on a weekly basis. Though it's more out of an obligation than genuine passion (for sports dorks, following the NFL is basically an unwritten rule). Outside of sports, I'm a major cinema buff and a weeb. My favorite film is "Blazing Saddles" and my favorite anime is "Black Lagoon."

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