In his 21st season as a NASCAR Cup Series competitor, Kyle Busch enters this upcoming weekend’s Cook Out Clash festivities at Bowman Gray Stadium with a unique milestone start-up for grabs. If Busch achieves a starting spot for the Clash, the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet entry will make his 19th career appearance in the pre-season exhibition event.
A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Busch’s first appearance in the Clash occurred in 2006 when the event occurred at Daytona International Speedway. By then, he was driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Monte Carlo entry for Hendrick Motorsports. He had earned a starting spot for the event by virtue of notching his first Cup Series career pole at Auto Club Speedway in February 2005 and since the event was featuring both pole winners from a previous season and former Clash winners. Starting in 14th place for his first Clash appearance, Busch settled in 15th place after he endured a slow pit service due to locking up his tires before entering his pit stall and before a two-lap shootout to the finish.
The following season, Busch, who started in sixth place, led a race-high 39 of 70 laps and was leading the Clash with eight laps remaining until he got bumped and shuffled out of both the lead and the draft by Tony Stewart. Despite dodging a final-lap multi-car wreck, Busch fell back to seventh place in the final running order. Due to not recording a single pole throughout the 2007 season, he was not eligible to compete in the 2008 Clash. By then, he had transitioned to Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 18 Toyota Camry entry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). During Busch’s first three Clash starts with JGR (2009-11), he finished no higher than fourth on the track, which occurred in 2010.
Then in 2012, Busch achieved the impossible by rallying from both starting at the rear of the field in a back-up car and slipping sideways in a shower of sparks twice amid two separate incidents to notch his first Clash victory. Busch’s on-track drama started with 28 laps remaining when he attempted to block Jimmie Johnson while battling for a top-five spot. Instead, the two drivers made contact, and resulted with Busch sliding his No. 18 Toyota sideways twice across the apron’s banked curbs through the first two turns and with sparks flying out from beneath his car. After sliding his car twice, he managed to both straighten and blend his car back onto the racing surface before proceeding under full speed. Not long after, Busch was racing in second place with two laps remaining when he received a slight bump from Jeff Gordon that got the former sideways across the apron multiple times through Turns 3 and 4. While Gordon would end up getting rolled over and flip twice amid a multi-car pileup, Busch would proceed to fully spin his car towards the Turn 4 infield, but he managed to continue. Restarting in eighth place for a two-lap shootout, Busch would draft the reigning three-time champion Tony Stewart to the lead prior to the final lap and execute a slingshot move on Stewart entering the tri-oval on the final lap to win the Clash by 0.013 seconds. As a result, Busch became the 20th competitor to win the exhibition event as he also recorded the fifth victory for JGR and the first for the Toyota nameplate.
Over his next seven Clash starts (2013-20), Busch notched four top-10 results and two top-three results, with his best result being a runner-up finish during the 2017 season. Then, in 2021, when the Clash shifted to Daytona International Speedway’s road-course venue, Busch capitalized on a final-lap run-in involving Ryan Blaney and the reigning champion Chase Elliott, where the latter spun the former to overtake both on the final road-course turn and muscle his No. 18 Toyota to his second career victory in the event. As a result, Busch became the 11th competitor to achieve multiple Clash victories. He also delivered the 10th Clash victory for JGR and the sixth for the Toyota nameplate. Ironically, his 2021 victory occurred in his first event with his new full-time crew chief, Ben Beshore.
Since the Clash relocated to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2022, Busch is coming off three consecutive top-three results. After finishing second behind Joey Logano in 2022, Busch would notch podium results of third and second, respectively, over the previous two seasons, both of which have occurred while driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for RCR.
Through 18 previous starts in the Clash, Busch has notched two victories, eight top-five results, 12 top-10 results, 131 laps led and an average-finishing result of 8.1. Due to finishing in 20th place in the 2024 driver’s standings, he will have to earn a starting spot for the 2025 Clash either through one of four Heat qualifying races scheduled for February 1 or through the 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier Race that will occur on February 2 before the main event.
Despite trailing ex-teammate Denny Hamlin by a single start in having the most Clash starts among active competitors, Busch is currently tied with brother Kurt, Jimmie Johnson, and Terry Labonte for having the fifth-most Clash starts all-time at 18. A 2025 berth to the Clash would enable Busch to tie with Kevin Harvick, Ken Schrader and Rusty Wallace on the all-time Clash starts start at 19. Ironically, Busch would also tie Hamlin if the latter were to not qualify for the main event.
Busch is also tied with Neil Bonnett, Ken Schrader, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Joey Logano for having the fourth-most Clash victories at two. Should Busch win the 2025 Clash at Bowman Gray, he would tie Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, and Kevin Harvick for the third-most Clash victories all-time with three.
The 2025 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium is scheduled to occur on Sunday, February 2, with a starting broadcast time at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.