Kyle Busch and history
Dustin Long went 'round and 'round in his own head on this story that ran Saturday, the piece about how the same drivers are hogging all of the wins this year. Going into Sunday's race at California, only 11 drivers had won races this year.
Compare that to last year, when 13 drivers split wins in 36 races; and 2001, when a modern-era record 19 drivers found victory lane.
Dustin was hoping to write this story a couple of weeks ago when the unique winner total stood at 9, but time off and a short week at Bristol last week conspired against him. Journalism loves a hook, something on which to hang a story, but he (and I -- I'm his boss, remember?) decided to press on with the story for Saturday although Jeremy Mayfield and Matt Kenseth became first-time season winners over the past two weeks.
Which brings us to Kyle Busch, who dominated last night's race and became the 12th Cup winner this season.
He's a rookie, this other Busch brother, and by some accounts anyway a better driver than his brother, who won last year's title and has 13 career Cup wins.
Kurt, last year's Busch Series rookie of the year, became the youngest race winner in Cup history last night. He just turned 20 in May (he was born about a month before I graduated from high school) and, barring injury or boredom, figures to have a long Cup career ahead of him.
Let's do the math. Say he races for another 20 seasons. That would make him 41 at the end of the 2026 season. Let's say he averages three wins per season -- not unreasonable for a talented driver in better-than-average equipment.
That would put him at 61 career wins (1 this year, three each x 20 season) at age 41 -- and in the company of immortals.
So go ahead and bookmark this post and check back in 20 years to see if I'm right. I'm not going to sit here and say that Kyle Busch is going to rack up more wins than soon-to-be-retirees Rusty Wallace (55) or even Mark Martin (34), but the kid has a real shot.
And his victory lane donation of his winnings to the Red Cross? Pure class. I might have to like this Busch.
Comments (11)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
What's that supposed to mean?
Anyway, looks like Mr. Hardin's prediction of who is most likely to fall out was a bust. I coulda told him that (and yall knew months ago). I think Kyle may be a better driver, but Kurt seems to be more savvy and is a better racer. Those two will be fighting it out for championships for a long time to come.
How about all 5 Roush cars likely to make the chase? Makes you wonder what NASCAR will do to break up the team.
Posted on September 5, 2005 8:53 PM
Sorta like the Burton brothers when they first started out. Now Ward is long gone.
I am willing to bet that Kyle will be around long after big brother Kurt is long gone. Reason, smarter and more teachable.
Posted on September 5, 2005 9:41 PM
What's my last comment mean, Matt? Just what it says. And liking and respecting are two different things. I'm not a Kurt Busch fan by any stretch.
But he earned a lot of respect in my book last year at Homestead, when he dropped the wheel on pit road and then worked his way back through the field to take the title. Dude can drive a race car, that's for sure. Doesn't mean I have to cheer him on.
Besides, rooting for any of the Roush drivers these days is sort of like pulling for the Yankees.
Posted on September 6, 2005 1:07 PM
Gotta call out mrproduce on that one. Kyle knows what he knows because Kurt has taught him. Jeff came along before Ward, and Kurt came along before Kyle. I stick with what I said before: Kyle is a better driver, but Kurt is a better racer. Kurt will be around until he wants to do something else.
John, wasn't clear on that. I'm glad you said you respect him, he sure deserves it no matter if you like him or not. Honestly, I'm glad a lot of people don't like him. But the coverage he has gotten for being the defending Champion has been a joke.
Posted on September 6, 2005 2:39 PM
You mean lack of coverage? Matt Kenseth -- remember him? former cup champ? Mr. Vanilla? -- would probably agree. Same with B-Lab, another past champ who doesn't seem to make good copy (or video) for whatever reason.
On the flip side, it was nice to see NBC virtually ignore Junior for a change. I don't think they showed him until about lap 40 and maybe once between then and the time he cooked his engine.
And that was a heck of a blowout. *POOF!* What a way to end your season.
Truex was having similar problems Saturday night, too. Wonder what's up in the DEI engine shop?
Posted on September 6, 2005 2:50 PM
Isn't Ward older than Jeff (the Burtons)? I recall Busch races at South Boston in the 80's when both were in late models at the same time and they had 1-off rides for the Busch races. Between them and Jay Folgelman, the regulars always got a run for their money both their and at Orange County. I thought they started both their full time Busch and Cup careers at the same time, or within a year of each other. Too lazy to research myself.
John, that is quite a bit of math you are throwing out there about Kyle Busch, I thought you said you were done with statistics last week? Oops, my bad you probably meant Guilford County School Board stats.
As far as the DEI engines, maybe they are just using up their remaining parts and waiting on the rumored merger with RCR.
Posted on September 6, 2005 9:58 PM
Mark: Yes, Ward is the older of the two Burtons.
Ward was born in January 1961, which makes him 44. Jeff turned 38 in June. (He's two weeks younger than I am and a Virginia native, which might be why I pull for him.)
Here is Ward Burton at South Boston back in the day. And here is an old story about the two brothers.
Sorry about all the math. I do it so you don't have to. ;)
Posted on September 7, 2005 11:03 AM
Thanks for the link to the Ward Burton site John. Although I was never a big Ward fan, I believe the Bio page on him shows how much things have changed the last few years; some will say for the better, but I'll say for the worse.
Ward Burton won the Daytona 500 and Southern 500 in back to back years ('01 for Darlington, '02 for Daytona). That statement used to make a driver's career and he could write his own ticket well into the future. Now, racing has passed him by as far as a competitive ride is concerned. I'm glad he as invested well and is set for the rest of his life.
Posted on September 7, 2005 11:52 AM
Just ask Michael Waltrip what winning the Daytona 500 means to your long-term job prospects ...
Posted on September 7, 2005 6:58 PM
"Kyle is a better driver, but Kurt is a better racer. Kurt will be around until he wants to do something else."
Sometimes being a better racer does not a winner make. Being a better driver and finishing, just somewhere in the top 10 or 15 seems to be more important to NASCAR these days. However that is another story for another day.
As I said, Kyle is more teachable and smarter and will be around long after brother Kurt. I won't argue that Kurt will stick around until he wants to do something else but that day will come much sooner for him than it will for Kyle.
Posted on September 8, 2005 10:48 AM
Yeah, Kurt is 27 and Kyle is 20, so I imagine you're right.
Posted on September 8, 2005 5:00 PM