Time is running out for Kyle Busch to reach NASCAR Cup Series victory lane in 2024.
Busch’s spin at the hands of Chase Briscoe‘s rear end while leading at Kansas Speedway was perhaps his last, best chance to grab a trophy before the year is out. Of the six tracks remaining on the schedule, Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday, Oct. 6, is the only one where Busch holds a win since the start of the 2020 season.
That puts Busch’s NASCAR streak of at least one Cup win per year in serious jeopardy. He’s cashed in at least once for 19 straight seasons on the Cup level, ever since he moved up as a fresh-faced 19-year-old rookie in 2005.
So if Busch’s record does come to an end, how impressive is it really?
Every sport has that unbreakable mark, a stat that might stand for decades, even centuries. For example, you have Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak in baseball; no one has even come close to sniffing that mark since it was set in 1941. Cy Young’s record of 749 complete games might as well be enshrined forever; current baseball culture pulls a starter the second he reaches a certain number of pitches.
Over in NASCAR, that unreachable number is Richard Petty’s 200 Cup victories. David Pearson is the only one close, at 105, and the lone other driver to crack the century mark. Jeff Gordon is next up, with 93 wins, but never had a real chance to catch Petty above him.
That’s because The King ran during a time you’d have 55, even 60 Cup races in a single season. It doubled the amount of opportunities at a time the field had fewer competitive cars, the perfect storm for records like 10 straight victories in 1967 (Just to compare to the modern era, Kyle Larson was considered a dominant Cup champion in 2021 with his 10 victories … over a 36-race span.)
That leaves Petty standing alone with a record set in stone. Busch’s mark of 19 straight may not quite reach that level.
But it’s close.
Consider the active streaks we have behind Busch’s 19 straight.
Active Streaks With At Least One Cup Victory (Entering 2024 season)
As you can see, Logano’s the only one in double digits. He extended the streak to 13 seasons with an overtime win at Nashville Superspeedway this summer. That means for Logano to catch Busch, in a best-case scenario, the record would need to end this year and then Logano would need at least one win a year for six more seasons.
That would take us to 2030, a time where…
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