1 #8 Kyle Busch (12/1) - He has three wins on the season with eight top-fives and 13 top-10s and I believe he’s going to have the same fast car he’s had on the roads this season and that Tyler Reddick used to win two races last season. The RCR set-up for this No. 8 Chevy has been incredible and Busch took it over this season with a runner-up at both COTA and Sonoma and was fourth at Chicago. He has two wins at Watkins Glen. I like the price as well. 2 #9 Chase Elliott (7/2) - He’s the best statistical road racer in NASCAR with a 7.8 average finish, seven wins, and 16 top-fives. Amazing stuff for sure, but he’s yet to win his last 12 on them including all nine starts with the NextGen car that was introduced last season. He’s led a bunch of laps in the new car and he was fifth at Sonoma, third at Chicago, and runner-up at Indy this season but he didn’t have the best car in any of them. He won the two Watkins Glen races before Larson won the last two. I think he’ll battle hard for the win, but his lack of wins on the roads should have his price going upwards like last week when he was 8-to-1 to win at Indy, but he lost and now he’s 7-to-2? He wants to make the playoffs and this will be the last shot where he has a weighted edge. 3 #20 Christopher Bell (12/1) - In 18 Cup starts on road courses, he has a 15.3 average finish which includes two wins and nine top-10s. Every race no matter where, he finds himself in the mix leading laps in five of his last seven road/street starts. I also like the direction that JGR is going in their road course program. He’s my top Toyota to finish. 4 #45 Tyler Reddick (9/1) - He’s the second-best active driver in NASCAR, or say the stats that show him with a 12.9 average finish in 18 Cup starts. He has three wins and six top-fives. He’s had two starts at Watkins Glen and finished in the top-10 of each. He’ll be in the mix for a win.
5 #99 Daniel Suarez (10/1) - Desperation makes him attractive to bet on but the weighted price doesn’t. Caesars is protecting against a problem that doesn’t exist and never exists – risk on Suarez. The desperation aspect is him sitting 28-points behind the 16th and final playoff spot. He has three top-fives in five Cup starts at Watkins Glen. He was fifth last season in the new car, the same year he won at Sonoma. He’s a live bet this week but search for better odds.
6 #34 Michael McDowell (12/1) - He comes off a massive win last week where he clearly had the best car proving so in practice and also the entirety of the race. He also had the best race of his entire Cup career at Watkins Glen last season, the first year of the NextGen car, finishing sixth. Watkins Glen is a much different track than Indy, but I think he’s established himself as one of the better road racers.
7 #19 Martin Truex Jr (15/2) - He has five road course wins in 48 starts while averaging a 14th-place finish. He’s become one of the favorites each time on them in the last half of his career. He had four straight top-three finishes at Watkins Glen, kicked off with a 2017 win, that stalled last season with the new car. He’s back up to speed now, all good.
8 #17 Chris Buescher (20/1) - He ended his streak of eight straight top-10s on road courses by finishing 11th last week at Indy. He was ninth at Watkins Glen last season. He’s always around the front and will likely be competing for the win.
9 #11 Denny Hamlin (18/1) - This is his best road course track and his car has been improving as the weeks go by. Last season's 20th at the Glen was a product of not having their NextGen car fully figured out. Now they’re fast everywhere. He has top-fives in four of his last six starts at the Glen which began with his only road course win in 2016. 10 #54 Ty Gibbs (17/1) - He needs points as he’s 49 points down from the playoff cutoff line and he needs to race his tail off like never before. He’s a good season on them this season with a best of ninth at COT and a worse of 18th at Sonoma. He was 12th last week at Indy. He also won the 2021 Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen. The price is a bit short, but I’ll likely just have match-up plays on the rookie.
Check out my full article on the Chicago race at Sportsline.com
1 #19 Martin Truex Jr. (7/1) - He just won at Sonoma leading a race-high 51 laps. His car dominated the end of the race. It was the best set-up he had with a JGR Toyota in the last 10 road races. It was his first top-five in his last 10 road races and also the first time he’s led a lap in his last 10 road races. The roads become more important in today’s NASCAR that Toyota has made huge grounds in setting up a quality ride. They had the best two cars at Sonoma, not by accident, but by making huge grounds in their road racing program. Truex has five road course wins now and might have six by the end of Saturday. He should be the favorite to win this race.
2 #45 Tyler Reddick (13/2) - He’s won three of the last six races on road courses and has led laps in five of his last six. The Toyota brand was on point for his car at COTA but finished 33rd at Sonoma after a decent start. But he never really contended at Sonoma after finishing sixth in the first stage. So the question is will he be set up better than everyone like he was at COTA or do we get the Sonoma set up? He’s batting .500 in his last six road races, so the price is somewhat attractive.
3 #17 Chris Buescher (20/1) - The new car has been his biggest edge on the road courses. He knows what he needs to run well, explains it to his team, and they give him what he needs to compete for a win. His last seven road starts with the new car have seen him finish in the top-10. His consistency in performance and car set-up has been amazing. He was runner-up at Sonoma last season and was fourth this season. He also was eighth at COTA in March. All top-10s, in seven straight of anything, is pretty good, but seven road courses are something that deserves some betting attention.
4 #16 A.J. Allmendinger (10/1) - His two wins in the NASCAR Cup Series have come on road courses, the last coming at the Indy course in 2021. His last six road starts have been amazing with a ninth or better in five of his last six. He was sixth at Sonoma three weeks ago. A new course, he’ll have an edge with attitude, arrogance, and skill. 5 #8 Kyle Busch (12/1) - He might offer the best value with his price-to-performance road racing ratio this week. Can he win? Sure why not, he has three wins already this season. But how about road courses? He has four wins and 18 top-fives over his 49 road starts. How about this season? He has a runner-up each at COTA and Sonoma, two-for-two in second place. It’s obvious the edge on roads that Tyler Reddick had last season in the first year of the NextGen car is still an edge with Busch driving it. 6 #9 Chase Elliott (5/1) - He has the most glorious road racing resume in NASCAR with an eighth-place average finish, seven wins in 26 starts with 15 top-fives, and 470 laps led. But he hasn’t won in his last 10 road races. He hasn’t won the last seven races on road courses using the NextGen car and while it might make sense that NASCAR’s main character wins on a new street circuit I just haven’t seen it yet with the new car. So how can I bet him now as the 5-to-1 favorite to do something he hasn’t done yet? His time is ticking as the countdown to the playoffs behind and he needs a win to make it.
7 #5 Kyle Larson (7/1) - He’s won four of the last 13 road course events but most of that damage was done in 2021 with the old car. He’s only won one road race in his last eight starts, including two very mediocre performances this season. He didn’t lead a lap in his last three and five of his last six road events. His recent history suggests his true price is 18-to-1 so why would I take 7-to-1? 8 #99 Daniel Suarez (25/1) - Seeing his teammate win last week raised the bar for Trackhouse Racing. Now it’s Suarez’s turn and after winning at Sonoma last season he finished fifth at Road America and Watkins Glen. But he finished 27th at COTA and 22nd at Sonoma this season. I would need 35/1 odds to bet him to win. 9 #11 Denny Hamlin (30/1) - The reason you might bet him this week besides the attractive price is because his car was bad-fast at Sonoma when he won the pole and led the first 32 laps, won the first stage, and then got an accident to finish poorly. The top two cars there were JGR Toyotas. They’ve found something in the NextGen car to help them get a better balance in their road setups. Overall, he has one road win and 13 top-fives in 47 road starts.
10 #34 Michael McDowell (25/1) - He was discovered by NASCAR driving on road courses and he’s showing off his skills during his last seven road course races beginning with a third last season at Sonoma and a seventh this season at Sonoma. He’s been 12th or better in six of his last seven road course starts. He’s a player this week as his low odds indicate.
The sixth race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup season takes us to our first road course event at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, known as COTA, which is America’s home to Formula-1 for the annual USGP. The 20-turn, 3.426-mile layout with an elevation change of 133 feet will get the Cup Series for the third consecutive season. This season's COTA race will have a different feel to it because the inaugural race winner Chase Elliott will be out due to a snowboarding accident in Colorado a few weeks ago. Elliott has been favored to win all the road courses the past few seasons because he wins most of them, or at least has seven wins between them. This race is up for grabs.
For my complete COTA article with a top-20 finish prediction, sign-up for Sportsline.com.
Here’s a look at what I’m thinking this week using odds to win courtesy of Caesars sportsbooks: 1 #45 Tyler Reddick (10/1) - This is where we ask the age-old question: was his last two seasons driving for RCR responsible for his amazing success on the roads, or was it the driver’s skill? We’ll get an answer to that question this week with Reddick in the No. 45 Toyota while Kyle Busch drives his former No. 8 Chevy. Let’s just say it’s 60% driver vs. a great car.
2 #1 Ross Chastain (8/1) - He’d finish seventh in 2021 at both Sonoma and Road America then and then came to COTA knowing he could win and he did for his first career Cup win. He’s got the arrogance needed to win this race.
3 #17 Chris Buescher (25/1) - He was top-10 in his last five road races in 2022, including a runner-up at Sonoma. He’s a must-play in any betting equation this week.
4 #16 A.J. Allmendinger (12/1) - Don’t mind the car number, it’s a road course, and Allmendinger is a candidate to win. He has two Cup wins in limited racing over his career, which is doing the near impossible in NASCAR with driving for an underfunded team.
5 #2 Austin Cindric (15/1) - Road courses are why he’s in NASCAR. This is where he got his chops to get someone from NASCAR to notice him. And then he goes and wins the Daytona 500 last season as a rookie.
6 #19 Martin Truex Jr (30/1) - He hasn’t won a road course race in his last 17 attempts on them with his last win coming at Sonoma in 2019 which starts a five-race run where he won three times in five races.
7 #99 Daniel Suarez (15/1) - He won at Sonoma last season for his first Cup win and then finished fifth at both Road America and Watkins Glen. Same car, same team, and he led 15 laps at COTA last season before settling for 24th.
8 #20 Christopher Bell (15/1) - He probably offers the best odds among all drivers because we’ve seen him win twice on the road courses in just 15 Cup starts.
9 #8 Kyle Busch (8/1) - He’s one of the best on road courses with four wins over his career, 16 top-fives, 25 top-10s, and 404 laps led. And he now drives the RCR car that won twice on roads last summer.
10 #11 Denny Hamlin (30/1) - He’s worked on his road course skills over his career and has one win and 13 top-fives in his 45 road course starts.
I was absolutely thrilled to see Kyle Busch win at Fontana on Sunday in just his second start for new car owner Richard Childress. And those feelings weren't just me, a Vegas guy. it was an entirely new vibe from the crowd that has booed him in his last three wins there.
I've seen this before.
They booed Dale Earnhardt in most of his years and none of us could have imagined the shift to in fans respecting him later more than anything. Kyle Busch turned the corner with the fans, racing on a team that housed Earnhardt's famed black No. 3 Chevrolet.
What Busch's win did Sunday was assure us he's going to have speed and compete in all the intermediate tracks like Las Vegas next week. There are more of these types than road or short tracks, so he should be in store for at least 3-win or more season. And Tyler Reddick won two of the road course races last season as well and Busch used the same car Reddick drove at Fontana last season to lead a race-high 90 laps led.
Yes, it's going to be a good season. Maybe a championship season.
The cars look the same as last season and the past results worked out this week. I think we can approad Las Vegas the way as last week in regards to the drivers I expect to do well.
It was a fun race. It always has been. I saw the first race in 1997 won by Jeff Gordon. It was part of the wave of fandom that saw the rise of NASCAR into a major sport with big television contracts.
We saw the last of the 2-mile layout, and who knows for how long for NASCAR at the track. It's likely going to be turned into a .75-mile short track layout and maybe not ready for two seasons. Maybe not at all.
But this version we say goodbye to, which is odd because Fontana started the rise in West-coast NASCAR nationalized and now we saw goodbye because of a half-Billion dollar land deal.
And I think Busch closing this fun race track sets the beautiful sunset.
Kyle, the well-documented move to Richard Childress Racing, you’ve been up front every time in this car; it only took two points races until you get your first win with these guys.
KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, coulda-shoulda-woulda, right, last week. But no, I think it’s just phenomenal. I can’t thank Richard and Judy enough. I can’t thank Austin for calling me and getting me talking and getting me this opportunity to be able to come over here to RCR and be a part of Chevrolet and be able to race this Lucas Oil Camaro today, to be able to put it up front like that, man.
The guys did a great job, Randall, everybody that has worked so hard during the off-season. We’ve done a lot of sim stuff, we’ve done a lot of testing in general just with trying to get up to speed, systems and all that sort of stuff. But man, there’s nothing more rewarding than being able to go to Victory Lane.
Want to give a shout-out to my wife and son and daughter back at home. I miss you guys, I’ll see you back at home tonight, and also Rowdy Energy, appreciate them. I need some 3Chi for my hands; I death gripped that wheel throughout the second half of that race. We held on, man, we got it today.
You’ve won a lot of big races through your career, but given everything that went in with the move and the change in teams, where does this one rank?
KYLE BUSCH: I think it ranks high just because it ranks to the fact of I can do it. I never doubted myself, but sometimes you do. You kind of get down on it, you wonder what’s going on and what’s happening and you put yourself in a different situation and you’re able to come out here and reward your guys. It’s not about me always winning but it’s about the guys. I’ve been with a lot of great people that have given me a lot of great opportunities in my career, so it’s awesome to be able to reward them.
I’m going to enjoy it for sure, and hopefully there’s many more left to go.
HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (June 22, 2022) – With the NASCAR Cup Series coming out its only off weekend of the 36-race schedule, Kyle Busch is looking to continue – even improve upon – his already strong performance this season during the second half of the year.
Busch, driver of the No. 18 PEDIGREE Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), has brought home six top-five, and 11 top-10 finishes over the first 16 races and finds himself very much in the running for the regular-season championship. He sits 23 points behind series leader Chase Elliott with 10 races to go before the playoffs commence.
In addition to his win on the dirt at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, the Las Vegas native was just an untimely caution flag away from bringing home two more wins at both his hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis earlier this month.
The two-time Cup Series champion now looks to start the second half of the season with a win at a place where he has an extensive racing and winning history – the 1.333-mile concrete oval at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. Busch competed in three different series at Nashville – NASCAR’s Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series, and the ARCA Menards Series. He made his Nashville debut in 2003 in his only ARCA start there and brought home the victory. He was also two-for-two in both his Truck Series starts, both wins coming from the pole in 2010 and 2011. The 2010 win also happened to be the first victory for his own Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) team.
Busch has the most experience at Nashville in the Xfinity Series, having started 10 races there from 2004 through 2011 that netted a 2009 victory and four top-five finishes. He added a start and an Xfinity Series win in NASCAR’s return to Nashville last season.
In addition to the vast Nashville Superspeedway experience on Busch’s resume, Busch and the No. 18 team have another chance to experience the homecoming of sorts for primary sponsor PEDIGREE®, whose Nashville-area headquarters are just up the road from the track. Busch will visit the facility prior to the race weekend.
The PEDIGREE brand and PEDIGREE Foundation are once again joining forces with Busch and the No. 18 team to spotlight pet adoption and support Mars Petcare’s global ambition to end pet homelessness. Busch’s PEDIGREE paint scheme will feature adoptable dogs and an “Adopt Me” call to action. As part of this collaboration, Mars Petcare, the PEDIGREE brand and PEDIGREE Foundation will host adoption events in Nashville during race weekend, covering all adoption fees at participating shelters for pets that find loving homes from June 24-26.
Participating shelters include Williamson County Animal Center and Nashville Humane Association. Courtesy of Mars Petcare, the PEDIGREE brand, and PEDIGREE Foundation, each adopter will receive a starter kit for the new furry family member that includes food, treats and pet supplies, such as a portable bowl and waste bags.
So as Busch heads to Nashville, he’s hoping to keep the momentum going from a strong first half of the Cup Series season and bring home his first Cup Series win at the tricky concrete track in his next doggone visit to Music City.
KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 PEDIGREE Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:
How do you feel about the Cup Series racing at Nashville Superspeedway?
“I think it’s a cool racetrack and a cool venue. I raced there a lot over the years in the ARCA Series, the Camping World Truck Series, as well as the Xfinity Series. I’ve had my fair share of races there and also my fair share of wins there. I was able to win the Xfinity Series race there last year, but we struggled a bit with our Cup car there. It’s a whole new ballgame with the new car there this year to see what is going to make our car fast. I think racing in Nashville fits with our sport because NASCAR and country music are kind of synonymous with each other. It’s a great opportunity to race there and we’ll do our best to get our PEDIGREE Camry to victory lane. Really proud to have PEDIGREE on board this weekend and all their work to help dogs find forever homes.”
With the point leaders bunched together at the top of the standings, does that make you focus more on getting playoff and bonus points?
“My answer to that or my mindset to that is you want to create some separation for yourself amongst the rest of your competitors. That betters you throughout the playoffs. With everyone being so close together and keeping bunched up, and with the season being as unpredictable, up and down for everybody, the playoffs could be that exact same way – where there are just way more unknowns. I think it was (The Athletic’s Jeff) Gluck who asked a few weeks ago, ‘Who is your championship favorite right now?’ We are all like, who knows? I feel like you are still at that point to say the Gibbs guys have been fast at the mile-and-a-halves. I would say the TrackHouse guys have been fast about everywhere. At the Phoenix-style track we struggled. The Penske guys were a bit better. There was an SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing) car that won that race. Again, I don’t even know where to go, but certainly playoff points are always on everybody’s minds. That was on my mind last race in the first stage, trying to win that first stage to get that playoff point knowing how important those are going to be when the time comes.”
Have you noticed that the intermediate tracks have become more competitive with the new car?
“There have definitely been the good guys – the guys who are good can come through traffic better than the guys who are mediocre, or the guys who aren’t very good can’t come through traffic. I guess when you are frustrated that you can’t come through traffic, you need to get your stuff better, but you can’t really do that throughout a race. It’s hard to change enough on those cars to make a big enough difference in the event while in the event. I guess, to me, I won’t argue that fact. Unfortunately, we could’ve-should’ve won Vegas, could’ve-should’ve won Kansas. A Toyota car did win Kansas. We were fast up front at Charlotte, and then when we spun again, the underbody – we killed the underbody. The car was terrible the whole rest of the day, all because of a spin – spinning while battling for the lead, to stay in the lead, to have a potential to win a stage. People would say, ‘Well, why don’t you just concede the position?’ Because there are stage points in 30 laps or so. It’s just a matter of trying hard and trying to drive the thing. Sometimes they step out from underneath you and you would like to not have to pay such a huge penalty.”
Event Overview:
● Event: Ally 400
● Time/Date: 5 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 26
● Location: Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway
● Layout: 1.333-mile concrete oval
● Laps/Miles: 300 laps/ 399 miles
● Format: Stage 1: 90 laps / Stage 2: 95 laps / Final Stage: 115 laps
HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (April 5, 2022) – When Martinsville (Va.) Speedway officials began installing lights in late 2016 to be used for the 2017 season and beyond, they had aspirations to one day run a NASCAR Cup Series event that started and ended under those lights. That vision became a reality in 2019, when it was announced that there would be a true night race on the half-mile, paperclip-shaped oval in May of 2020, which subsequently was delayed until the summer due to the pandemic.
Fast forward to this weekend and, with changes in the schedule that have occurred since that 2020 debut of night racing there, Martinsville finds itself hosting the first of just three Saturday-night races this season, the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400.
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Crunchy Cookie Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), heads to the .526-mile short track for 400 laps of racing Saturday night after a strong runner-up finish there last fall.
In addition to his most recent run there, Busch has some impressive statistics at Martinsville. In his last 14 starts there, Busch has two wins to go with nine top-five finishes and 11 top-10s as the M&M’S Crunchy Cookie driver is a staple at the front of the field at the Virginia short track. Martinsville was a much bigger challenge for Busch earlier in his career, especially during his early years racing under the JGR banner. In fact, Busch finished outside the top-10 in three of his first four races there with JGR in 2008 and 2009, but has come into his own at Martinsville, starting with his first championship season in 2015.
Busch will no doubt shine bright under the lights with the scheme for the new M&M’S Crunchy Cookie product adorning his No. 18 Toyota for the second of seven races this season. M&M’S Crunchy Cookie combines two favorite treats – M&M’S and chocolate chip cookies – and is now available nationwide. It’s bound to give race fans a fun, nostalgic snack to enjoy during this weekend’s race. M&M’S is also partnering with a cool cookie creator, Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi, to create 100, one-time-only, limited-edition cookies that will be made available to race fans on a first-come, first-served basis. Fans can sign up at MMS.com to find out when they’ll drop.
So as Busch and the rest of his NASCAR Cup Series competitors head to Martinsville for first night race of the season, the two-time Cup Series champion is hoping to be in the spot that will shine brightest at Martinsville – victory lane.
KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 M&M'S Crunchy Cookie Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:
What is the key to you getting a win at Martinsville?
“It’s a tough racetrack and, any time you come in the pits and make an adjustment on your car, you certainly hope it goes the right way, or you make enough of it, or you don’t make too much of an adjustment. The last run can be tricky, too, because you can be coming off a 50-lap run on right-side tires and take four and you’ve only got 30 (laps) to go, or you could have 80 to go and you know you have to manage that run all the way to the end. Hoping we can just be there at the end and have a shot to with our M&M’S Crunchy Cookie Camry.”
What’s unique about Martinsville that makes for good racing there?
“Typically, you are off the throttle more than you are on the throttle at Martinsville, so your time is lost or made when you are off the gas. That lends itself to guys dive-bombing and making moves and being light on the brake and running into the back of guys, or rooting them out of the bottom and getting them shuffled back. The more that track becomes a bottom feeder-type racetrack and you can go and get a guy shuffled out, there’s no worry to you because he can’t get back in line. If he goes back five spots, then you have that cushion again. There are all kinds of different ways Martinsville has always put on really good and exciting racing, and we’ll see how things look with the new car and trying to adapt as best we can.”
What do you feel is the biggest key to performing well in races like this week at Martinsville?
“I think just being able to get comfortable, get settled, and make sure that you’re good to go for those long hauls. Don’t worry about what lap it is, ever, during a race. That’s the worst thing that could happen to you. You just try to not ever worry about what lap you’re on or what’s going on around you. You just keep battling, keep driving, keep your focus forward on what you’re doing. That’s the best way to go about those races. This one is a bit shorter with 400 laps instead of the 500 laps we are used to there, but there are still going to be some long hauls, for sure.”
Where have you put the Martinsville Speedway grandfather clocks you’ve won?
“One’s at home in the foyer and I had to turn off the buzzer because it’s close to (son) Brexton’s room, so we don’t get to hear it. We heard it a couple of times while it went off, but then I turned it off. And then, the other ones, we have at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports).”
Event Overview:
● Event: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 (Round 8 of 36)
● Time/Date: 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 9
● Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
● Layout: .526-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 400 laps/210.4 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 100 laps / Final Stage: 220 laps
HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (March 1, 2022) – Kyle Busch is set to return to his hometown this weekend and another sweet piece of Las Vegas will be riding along with him once again.
For the second consecutive year, the craft chocolate division of Mars Wrigley – Henderson, Nevada-made Ethel M Chocolates – will be a primary sponsor of a NASCAR Cup Series car. The hometown duo has teamed up for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Ethel M Chocolates, maker of handcrafted chocolates in the Nevada desert, will serve as primary sponsor of Busch’s No. 18 Ethel M Chocolates Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR).
Ethel M Chocolates is a marquis offering, manufactured by Mars Wrigley North America and dedicated to creating premium chocolates with fresh ingredients and no artificial preservatives.
Busch is focused on getting back to victory lane at Las Vegas after crossing an all-important hometown win of his checklist in 2009 in just his fifth NASCAR Cup Series start at his hometown track. He’s just missed out on a few other Las Vegas wins since then. This weekend, Busch looks to bring home career Cup Series win No. 60 to add to his growing list of accomplishments.
The 2002 honors graduate of Durango High School in Las Vegas would like to double his number of Cup Series wins at the desert track after having brought home that emotional first win there 13 years ago.
Driving the yellow M&M’S Toyota that day, Busch qualified on the pole but was forced to start at the rear of the field because the team needed to make an engine change during Friday practice. Unfazed, Busch remained patient on race day as he and the M&M’S team worked their way to the front of the field by the 54th lap. He went on to lead three times for 51 laps en route to claiming what he called at the time the biggest win of his young career.
While Busch has NASCAR Xfinity Series wins in 2016 and 2019 and Camping World Truck Series wins in 2018, 2019, and 2020 to go with his 2009 Cup Series win on the 1.5-mile oval, he already was no stranger to winning on Las Vegas Motor Speedway property. From 1999 to 2001, he earned more than 65 wins in Legends cars while racking up two track championships at the Bullring, which existed for several years before the NASCAR track was built. When Busch moved up to Late Models, his winning ways continued with 10 victories at the Bullring in 2001.
As he returns to Las Vegas this weekend, Busch is hoping the “Born in Las Vegas” connection will be just what he needs to celebrate along with Ethel M Chocolates, right at “home” in victory lane.
KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 Ethel M Chocolates Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:
How exciting is it to have Ethel M Chocolates on your car again on Sunday, especially with the Las Vegas connection?
“It’s always a big deal. I’ve been able to go out to the plant several times, now, and met with the associates there and I’ve really enjoyed it. I didn’t realize it until I visited the plant and the retail store that I had been to the cactus garden there before with my grandma. So it’s nice to have that memory of being there as a child with my grandma right next to the plant where they make Ethel M. I’m really looking forward to getting out there on Sunday and hoping we can get Ethel M a good run and go for the win. We had some issues at Fontana, so hopefully we have those corrected for this weekend and we have a shot to run up front and see what we can do from there.”
Being from Las Vegas, is there always more pressure to perform when you’re at that racetrack?
“Yeah, certainly, you always want to do well. I feel like I’ve won that race before and just the huge sense of relief that kind of comes off your shoulders when you’re able to do that and win at your home track. It was pretty awesome. Kurt (Busch) was just able to finally get it done a few years ago, so that was really awesome to see. I remember mine, I think it was 2009. It’s been a long time. Back at that time, it felt like winning the Daytona 500. I hadn’t won as many big races as I have now, or won as often as I have now. So a lot of guys look at the Daytona 500, everybody puts extra emphasis on the Daytona 500 because it is our sport’s biggest race, right? Then you’ve got the guys who all go to their home tracks, and those guys put extra emphasis on their home track and they want to do well there. So it’s just kind of that same philosophy, I think. It’s really cool to have Ethel M Chocolates on the car again this weekend and it would be a great weekend to be able to bring home another win there, not only for myself but everyone down the road at Ethel M.”
What does it mean to your family to race in Las Vegas again?
“It’s cool to be able to come back home and to have the notoriety, I guess, that we have now. When we went out there years ago, there were many other drivers who were way bigger than us and way more popular than us. Now that we’ve been here for a while and those other drivers aren’t there anymore, we’ve kind of upped ourselves on the ladder of that and it’s cool. One of these days, hopefully, there might be a road out there named after us, or a grandstand or something of that nature. Don’t get too far ahead of yourselves because that just means I get closer to retirement if they start doing that, I guess.”
What was it like to bring home a Cup Series win in your hometown in 2009?
“It was cool. To go out there and to run a smooth race and to have a shot at winning at the end of the race, that’s what it’s all about. I watched Vegas being built from the ground up, and I remember when it wasn’t anything but a gleam in the eye of Richie Clyne (founder of Las Vegas Motor Speedway) – all those guys who made that place happen.”
What is your fondest racing memory of growing up in Las Vegas?
“My fondest racing memory is probably my first Late Model race. I started about eighth or 10th and ended up winning it. My first-ever start, I won. So that is definitely a great memory to have.”
My dear friend Fontana, I had this weird dream after the last time I saw you the world shut down, everyone was unkind to each other, and hundreds of thousands died from a pandemic. It was absolutely horrible, but I’m glad I woke up and glad to be back. Wait, I’m awake and it’s been two years?
It was March 1, 2020, Alex Bowman led a race-high 110 laps to win his second career Cup race. And then Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert caught COVID-19, the NBA shut down, the NCAA Basketball Tournament was canceled, and NASCAR followed suit.
That was one lonely March and April I’ll never forget. The unknown of the virus constantly occupied my mind and then it felt exasperated more by not having sports to follow. But then NASCAR set a May 17 date at Darlington for a return to action, the first sports back on network TV. They raced on May 20th also at Darlington. Midweek racing didn’t catch on as I hoped, but I loved it.
WISE POWER 400 PICKS & PREDICTIONS
Back to the future, so let’s get this California re-boot started with momentum coming off a strong Daytona 500 audience and the possibility of also welcoming new NASCAR fans found at the L.A. Coliseum for the Busch Light Clash won by Joey Logano the week before the Super Bowl played in Inglewood.
NASCAR is on a roll to start the 2022 season and I think Sunday’s NASCAR WISE Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA can bring it just as strong because it's a wide sweeping two-mile D-shaped oval offering multiple grooves for the drivers. Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick will likely rim ride at the top while Kyle Busch will stick with whatever groove his car likes.
The performance of the NextGen car for varying teams will be a learning experience for me, but I’ll look for the positives in all garages.
I think how Brad Keselowski runs this week off a solid superspeedway week at Daytona will be a major glimpse at what we’ll see for the series moving forward. He’s the perfect in between specimen to observe. He’s 40-to-1 to win at a track he won at in 2015 with a quality Team Penske ride. He’s now with a Roush team that hasn’t been stellar at Fontana since Matt Kenseth won in 2009.
How he does this week gives hope and insight for all the non-elite teams with the NextGen car? It’s got 670 horsepower and has the appearance of being all-equal, but I have it stuck in my head that Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing are the elites, Penske isn’t far behind, and then it’s everyone else. At least that’s the way it always seemed to be. But if it’s not the case this time around, Keselowski will shed light this weekend.
Brad Keselowski saw a Top 10 finish in last week's Daytona 500. (AP)
Keselowski says he’s glad to be back at Fontana.
“Fontana starts a long stretch of racing on the West Coast, but we’re excited for it and glad to have momentum as a company coming off Speedweeks,” Keselowski said. “Despite we have not been to Auto Club in a couple of years, it is a track I have been fortunate to be strong at the last few outings. We’re looking forward to getting things going in the Violet Defense Ford come Saturday, and are excited for the weekend.”
Keselowski is 40-to-1 to win at Caesars sportsbooks and he wasn’t kidding about his recent success on the 2-mile layout. After his win in 2015, he was ninth, runner-up, fourth, third, and fifth. He obviously loves the track’s worn-out surface or has an instinctive edge on how to manage it that some others don’t have.
But you still have to have the car.
And this is where it gets difficult when betting this week. I feel like I’m walking on eggshells when discussing stuff I don’t fully know the answers to. I’m reluctant to bet as normal on just a hunch that Hendrick or JGR will be the best equipped to start the season on non-superspeedways. I have to trust the driver’s past history the most with a boost of confidence if those Fontana-friendly drivers also drive for HMS or JGR.
WISE POWER 400 BETTING ANALYSIS
All this is spinning in my head as common sense responds with the fact that Ford won the Clash at the Coliseum, both Daytona Duels, and the Daytona 500. Ford is a big 4-0. They had an aerodynamic edge with the Ford bumpers connecting better in the draft. The Austin Cindric-Ryan Blaney teamwork was spectacular.
Caesars has Penske drivers Joey Logano at 14-to-1, Ryan Blaney at 10-to-1, and the rookie Cindric at 50-to-1. When I saw those odds on Cindric my immediate feeling was to not let that price slip away again. I bet Blaney and Logano aggressively last week and left the other teammate out of the mix. Maybe a super small wager on Cindric just so I don’t feel left out like last week when I had second, third, and fourth place locked up with wagers.
As for Stewart-Haas Racing Fords, I don’t feel confident in them after the complete collapse last season when only one driver won a race and it was Aric Almirola and not Kevin Harvick who won a series-leading nine races in 2020. In 27 Cup starts at Fontana, Harvick has a 2007 win. But Harvick says it's all new this week with the NextGen cars.
“For sure, because you just don’t know,” he said. “It’s always tire management, it’s always moving around the racetrack – being able to run the top and the bottom – but this car is so different in the way that it uses the tires, and the way it uses the right-rear tire, especially. I think as you look at that, it could turn into a tire conservation type of situation to where just have to pick a speed and run the speed so you can make it through a whole fuel run. You just don’t know those things until you go do it, so being able to adapt and adjust is going to be important.”
Yes, he sounds like me at the bet window this week.
Harvick is 12-to-1 to win at Caesars because, because……well, I don’t know. Is it because he’s from Bakersfield just northwest of Fontana?
That Harvick number doesn’t make sense, but no one knows with this new car at Fontana’s abrasive surface. Maybe practice on Saturday will show he’s a contender.
WISE POWER 400 BETTING RESOURCES
Date: Sunday, February 27, 2022
TV-Time: FOX, 3:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Auto Club Speedway
Location: Fontana, California
Distance: 400 miles
Laps: 200
The first bet I made this week was Bowman at 15-to-1 odds just because he loves the track, he’s from HMS, and he’s the most recent winner at Fontana.
“I’m excited to get back to Fontana,” Bowman said. “I feel like we had the best car we have had ever when we raced there in 2020. I love the track and how big it is, so going back with a win in my last appearance and a lot of good thoughts gives me a lot of confidence. Obviously, the car is different so we can’t lean too much on our notes from last time, but I know our team will put together a great car for this year’s event.”
His sentiment is encouraging, I feel a confidence boost about my bet.
Kyle Larson is the deserving +250 to win Sunday, but is he really since we haven’t seen the new cars race on the track? That unknown makes his driver rating lower for this race, or at least until Saturday’s practice where 10-consecutive laps averages will be the gateway to finding a gem.
If it’s Larson that is fastest or second fastest in those 10 lap averages it might be a long day for the rest of the field because Larson thrives on 2-mile D-Shaped sister tracks in Fontana and Michigan. He won four straight races on them from 2016-17. A win and two runner-ups at Fontana is a strong resume.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Larson said. “Obviously, we will all learn a lot during practice and qualifying on Saturday. We used to run low for a few laps then move up a couple lanes. Then after seven or eight laps you could run all over the place. But I believe they put resin down, so I don’t know how that will affect it.”
HANDICAPPING THE WISE POWER 400
The driver I invested the most in this week is Kyle Busch at 8-to-1 odds to win just because he leads all active drivers in wins (4), top-fives (11), top-10s (16), laps led (807) in 22 Cup starts at Fontana. He was runner-up the last time there in 2020, dominated in 2019 winning all three stages, and third in 2018. He’s been third or better in seven of his last nine starts (3 wins). He’s also got JGR behind him, so it wasn’t hard for my money to follow the driver skills combined with the ownership money that demands excellence.
“I really enjoy the 2-mile track,” Busch said. “I love going out to California. It’s a driver’s track and it’s aged over time. The surface has been ground, but I don’t think it’s been paved since it was first built back in 1997 or 1998. It’s been a long time with the place being aged, and it’s aged well. You can run all over it. Typically, recently you run up around the wall in the turns but you can still move around a bit. I hope the NextGen car will also allow us to move around and be pretty racy. We’ll go there this weekend with our Interstate Batteries Camry and try and get another win there.”
Busch also has six Xfinity Series wins and two Truck Series wins at Fontana..
HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (Feb. 1, 2022) – As the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season quickly approaches, it’s shaping up to feature many new and unique twists than fans have seen in quite some time.
The traditional season-opening exhibition race, now called the Busch Light Clash, was held for 43 years at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Debuting in 1979, the non-points event was held on the 2.5-mile oval for the first 42 years, then moved to the Daytona road course for the 2021 edition. For this year, the event has been reimagined in a big way, moving to a purpose-built, quarter-mile, asphalt oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum kicks off the 2022 season at a track other than Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway for the first time since 1981, when the series opened its season on a road course at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway, approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles.
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), is the defending winner of the Busch Light Clash, albeit with a thrilling, last-corner victory on the Daytona road course last February as Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney collided in front of him, allowing the Las Vegas native to slip past both drivers to bring home the checkered flag. The win was Busch’s second in the season-opening exhibition race to go with his thrilling comeback in 2012, when he inched past Tony Stewart at the line to bring home the win on the Daytona oval.
While starting the season on a purpose-built track inside the Los Angeles Coliseum qualifies as new and unique, it’s not nearly the only new thing NASCAR fans will need to get used to in 2022. The Clash also serves as the debut of the NextGen car in NASCAR’s top series.
The NextGen car is the seventh-generation stock car introduced since NASCAR began sanctioning what is now called the Cup Series in 1949. While the car has a sleek, new look more in line with the street versions of each of its manufacturers. Highlights of the NextGen car include a sequential shifter, 670-horsepower engines, single center-lock wheel nuts akin to what is used on Formula One cars, Indy cars and sports cars, and car numbers shifting forward, just behind the front wheel well.
In addition to those notables, the NextGen car also features carbon fiber-reinforced plastic body panels, a carbon-fiber floor that covers the entire underneath portion of the car, and a rear-end diffuser to reduce dirty air. Also, rack-and-pinion steering replaces the archaic recirculating ball, and an independent rear suspension is a drastic upgrade from the full floating axle.
As for the Clash race format, Busch will be one of an expected 36 entries who will vie for 23 starting spots in the 150-lap feature on the quarter-mile Coliseum oval. The race weekend starts with practice and qualifying Saturday and continues with heat races and last-chance qualifiers Sunday. The feature race begins at 3 p.m. EST and will be televised live on FOX.
So as Busch and his fellow Cup Series competitors head out West to compete in the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, he’s hoping he can bring home a win with his M&M’S Camry in this “Clash” of the Titans of NASCAR’s top series in the City of Angels.
KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 M&M'S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:
What does it mean to be able to race at a place like the Los Angeles Coliseum?
“It’s really cool. Obviously, the history of the Coliseum is really, really neat. It’s going to be tight corners for us, there’s not a lot of space there. We’ll put on the best show we possibly can. Being it’s such a historic venue, we hope we can get a good crowd out there and enjoy the show, and hopefully have a few new eyeballs come out there and tune in on TV, and keep some of those people to watch our other races during the remainder of the year.”
How do you think the racing is going to be like at the Coliseum?
“I have no idea what it’s going to be like. Top speed is probably going to be around 60 mph and the low speed in the corners may be 20 mph. It’s going to be action-packed. We aren’t going to be able to spread out and get away from each other. We are going to be all over the top of each other’s bumpers and doors. Double-file restarts are going to be really tight, and there’s going to be a lot of fenders bent and probably feelings hurt.”
What is your anticipation level for the Clash?
“My anticipation level is probably a lot like everyone else’s, just not exactly knowing what we are going to see. I’ve raced on tracks that small before, but it was in Legends cars. We’ll have to see how this track fits these big, heavy stock cars. We’ll see how it goes. I’d like to do nothing more than take our M&M’S Camry to victory lane the very first time we get to run at a new venue like the Coliseum.”
What’s it going to be like being in Los Angeles to start the season with a unique, first-time event like the Clash at the Coliseum?
“Being in Los Angeles is cool. But when it comes time to race, it’s time to get down to business. We have objectives in mind to be able to go out there and win. It’s a performance-based business, so with that in mind, you want to go out there and do well whether it’s a points-paying race or not for your team and for your sponsors. It’s the first race with the new car so there’s a lot on the line there. You’re going to be close to the fans, it will remind us a lot of Martinsville and Bristol, lining up on pit road before the race just 20 to 30 feet away from the fans right across the way at the fence line.”
Event Overview:
● Event: Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 6
● Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
● Layout: Quarter-mile oval
● Format: 150-lap Feature with a 23-car field set by Heats and Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ)
● TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
● Note: Heats and LCQ are broadcast live from 3-5 p.m. EST. Feature airs live at 6 p.m. EST.
Notes of Interest:
● The Format: The L.A. Coliseum track is only a quarter-mile in length – the shortest track the NASCAR Cup Series will compete on in 2022. Only 23 cars can compete in the 150-lap main event. Full format details are below:
On Saturday, Feb. 5, NASCAR Cup Series competitors will take to the track for practice prior to single-car qualifying runs to determine the starting order for four heat races. The field will be open to 40 entrants. On Sunday, Feb. 6, on-track action will begin with four, 25-lap heat races consisting of 10 cars each. Below is a breakdown on how the heat races will be filled out: The top-four fastest qualifiers from Saturday’s single-car qualifying session will be on the pole for each heat race, while cars that qualified fifth through eighth will make up the other half of the front row in each heat. The remainder of each field will be filled out using this methodology: Heat one will be made up of cars with qualifying positions of one, five, nine, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37. The top-four finishers (16 total cars) from each heat race automatically advance through to the Busch Light Clash, with the winner of heat one winning the pole and the heat two winner earning the outside pole. The winners of heats three and four will fill out the second row, with the remaining order of those 16 cars being determined in the same manner. The remaining six finishing positions from each heat (24 total cars) that did not advance will continue through to one of two 50-lap Last Chance Qualifying (LCQ) races. Below is a breakdown on how the LCQ will be filled out: The starting order for these two events will be determined based on finishing positions in the heat races. Those who did not advance from heats one and three will make up the first LCQ race. The second race will be made of up those from heats two and four. The fifth-place finishers from heats one and two will be on the pole in their respective LCQ races. The fifth-place finishers from heats three and four will be on the outside pole. This pattern will continue to fill out 12 cars in each event. The top-three finishers (six total cars) from both LCQ races will advance to the Busch Light Clash, filling out positions 17-22 of the 23 available positions. The final spot in the Busch Light Clash will be reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2021 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in the heat races or LCQ races. All other drivers will be eliminated from competition for the remainder of the event weekend.
● ‘Busch’ Clash history: The Busch Light Clash will mark Busch’s 16th appearance in the non-points event, with his 14 races competing on the 2.5-mile oval and last year’s Clash victory coming on the Daytona road course. He brought home his first of two Clash victories in 2012. In that race, Busch passed three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart coming to the finish line on the final lap. Busch won by .013 of a second, the closest finish in Clash history. Busch has led 61 total laps in his 16 previous Clash starts.
