It’s been two years since I wrote about the end of Kyle Busch‘s career in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
It was over.
The fat lady had sung.
Busch had finally, mercifully, won his 100th career Xfinity race on June 21, 2021, at Nashville Superspeedway. It came four years after he claimed he’d retire from the series once he reached 100 wins.
After Nashville, he’d win two more times, completing a five-for-five sweep of his Xfinity starts that year and sending him out on top.
It sure seemed like a done deal.
“Did you hear the crowd?” said Busch at the time, referring to the Nashville audience that had booed his win. “Nobody likes me here. So peace out. Bye-bye. […] I get beat up, whether it’s the fans or here [in the media center], like ‘Why am I doing it? What am I doing it for? Why am I beating up on the little kids?’ and all that BS. I love winning.”
Luckily, I hedged my bets, writing:
The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ long national Kyle Busch nightmare is over.
Definitely.
Probably.
Let’s play it by ear?
I’ll be honest, about halfway through the 2022 season — in which only three Xfinity races were won by full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers — I caught myself thinking, “When is Kyle Busch going to make his first Xfinity start this year?”
I had completely forgotten about Busch’s departure from the series.
It helped that we were wrapped up in the “will he or won’t he?” drama around if Busch would remain with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Spoiler warning: He didn’t.
Well, last week Busch turned his “retirement” into a one-year siesta.
While Busch will be getting acquainted with Richard Childress Racing in the Cup Series on Sundays, he’ll get five Xfinity Series starts with Kaulig Racing.
And you know what?
I’m not entirely annoyed by it.
Emphasis on “not entirely.”
For the vast majority of his Xfinity career, Busch was behind the wheel of top-flight equipment, whether it was with Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing.
The biggest exception was in 2012. That year Busch drove a self-owned car in 22 races.
He went winless.
It is one of only two seasons in Xfinity that Busch didn’t claim a victory, joining his part-time rookie year in 2003.
2023 represents a fascinating moment for Busch.
At age 37, he’s now the top guy at RCR, which hasn’t won a Cup title since 1994 with Dale Earnhardt.
He’ll get his five races with…
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