Becomes Youngest In Series History To Reach Milestone

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 2, 2010) – Kyle Busch will make his 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on Sunday in the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 presented by Target at Pocono Raceway.

In doing so, at 25 years, one month and four days, Busch will become the youngest driver in series history to reach start No. 200. The previous youngest was Brian Vickers, at 25 years, 11 months and three days (Dover International Speedway, Sept. 27, 2009).

Through the first 199 races, Busch has 18 wins, 60 top fives and 93 top 10s. Busch has won at least one race in each of his six full-time seasons.

Since 1972, the Modern Era, when NASCAR reduced the number of races in its schedule, six other drivers have won as many races by their 200th start as Busch: Jeff Gordon (45); Jimmie Johnson (27); Darrell Waltrip (25); Davey Allison* (19); Tony Stewart (19); Rusty Wallace (18). (Note *: Davey Allison won his 19 races in 191 career starts.)

Busch has made NASCAR’s postseason – the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – three times, and currently is second in the series standings.

Below is a timeline of some of Busch’s career highlights on his way to 200 starts:
1 – Busch’s first start came at his home track – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – on March 7, 2004. He finished 41st in the No. 84 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
7 – On Feb. 20, 2005, Busch competed in his first Daytona 500, finishing 38th. It was Busch’s first race in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
31 – At Auto Club Speedway on Sept. 4, 2005, Busch won his first series race. He led 95 laps in the event, at the time becoming the youngest race winner in series history. Joey Logano broke that record with his victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last season.
83 – At Bristol Motor Speedway on March 25, 2007, Busch won the first race run with the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car.
115 – At Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 17, 2008, Busch made his first start with Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Toyota. He finished fourth.
133 – Busch nabbed consecutive victories for the first time. Start No. 132 was a victory in the July Daytona race, his 10th career win. The following week, he won at Chicagoland Speedway.
153 – Grabs his coveted hometown victory at Las Vegas on March 1, 2009.
160 – Joins NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Cale Yarborough as the second NSCS driver to win on his birthday. Busch did it at Richmond International Raceway on May 2, 2009, his 24th birthday.

SHOW #112 – Our guest is Martin Truex Jr., as we recap the Coke 600, preview Pocono, discuss the demise of Jimmie Johnson, the Jeff Burton / Kyle Busch scuffle, and more. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Paul Northrop

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NOTE: Also HEARD on Stitcher Radio

CREDITS:
Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Paul Northrop
Production: Kerry Murphey
Music: Radium Sound
Voice Over: Thomas Moog

Older Busch Suddenly A Championship Favorite

Kurt Busch completed the rare All-Star-Coca-Cola 600 sweep last weekend, the seventh time that has occurred.

In doing so, the 2004 series champion penciled his name on the short list of 2010 championship favorites.

The 600 victory was Busch’s second of the season, and it gave him another 10 potential Chase bonus points.

After race No. 26, the top 12 in points will have their points reset to 5,000, with an additional 10 points added to that total for each race won during the “regular season.”

Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin are on top of the bonus points standings, each with three wins, and 30 bonus points.

First Half Perfect Setup to Chase Run
The first half of the 26-race regular season is complete, and it’s been a storyline jammed first 13 events.

Some competition highlights:
– There have been seven different race winners and 10 different Coors Light Pole winners.
– The average margin of victory has been 1.293 seconds
– Nine of the 13 races have had a margin of victory under one second.
– There has been an average of 31 lead changes among 13 different leaders.
– 41 drivers have led at least one lap.
– There have been an average of 3,733 green flag passes and 46 green flag passes for the lead per race. Both figures are most since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.

Slumping Johnson Welcomes Tricky Triangle

This is strange territory for Jimmie Johnson, winner of four consecutive series championship.

Johnson’s last three finishes – and four of the last five – have been outside the top 15.

The slump has dropped Johnson from the points lead after Talladega, to his current seventh-place position.

A turn-around could come this weekend, where Johnson has an average Pocono finish of 9.8. He swept there in 2004.

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