Kurt Busch’s career has been a long one. As of 2022, he and Kevin Harvick were the only full-time Cup drivers to have competed in NASCAR during the pre-playoff era.
Kurt was clear that this was not a retirement announcement and we could very well see him on track again, but we’d still like to take the opportunity to look back on all 34 of his NASCAR Cup Series triumphs.
At the age of 21, he drove for Jack Roush at Dover in his 2000 Cup debut and finished 18th. It wasn’t until 2002 he first found Victory Lane though, taking the checkered flag at Bristol. Six of his 34 Cup wins came at that half-mile short track.
Busch really found his groove later that same season, winning three of the final four races to end 2002. The first of those came at Martinsville, another short track.
The very next week, he would get his first win at a 1.5-mile speedway, winning the rain-shortened Cup race at Atlanta.
He ended 2002 on a high note, winning the finale at Homestead. The only race he didn’t win in the final month of the season was Phoenix, where he still placed sixth after leading 117 laps. He ended the year third in the championship standings.
In 2003, he would win another four races. The first came at Bristol, repeating his victory there from one year prior.
The next victory in Kurt’s promising career came at Auto Club Speedway, beating Bobby Labonte to the checkered flag.
He would follow it up with a victory at another two-mile track, winning at Michigan, again beating the younger Labonte brother.
Kurt completed the season sweep at Bristol, winning both races there in 2003. Three of the last four races at BMS were all won by him, and people now knew to expect him as the one to beat whenever NASCAR tackled the high-banked half-mile.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that he extended that Bristol win streak to three in-a-row with his first victory of the 2004 season coming at BMS.
His tenth career victory came at a track where he had not yet won at, however. Fending off Jeff Gordon, Kurt claimed victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
He must have found something he liked at NHMS, because on NASCAR’s return, Kurt would win there yet again. It became the second track where he was able to complete the season sweep. Although it was his final victory of the 2004 season, it certainly was not his greatest triumph.
Kurt did not win the 2004 season finale at Homestead, and yet it is likely his most…
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