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Consider this. Kyle Busch is tied with Jimmie Johnson with four victories in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Then consider something even more impressive. Busch has raced just nine times this season because of a broken leg and foot suffered prior to the season-opening Daytona 500. Johnson has participated in all 20 Cup races.
Busch is on quite a roll, winning four of the last five Cup races, but Pocono Raceway can sap the momentum from the driver of the No. 18 Toyota. The Long Pond track hasn’t been kind to Busch throughout his career.
“Well, I would agree with you it has been feast or famine,” Busch said during NASCAR’s weekly teleconference. “We either hit it or we don’t. It’s a tricky racetrack to try to hit. I’m not sure exactly what things or what traits you have to have in your car exactly, but I thought we had a decent run there this spring. I felt like we had a third- or fourth-place car.
“I messed up on a couple of restarts and finished ninth, so that wasn’t too terrible, but you know, we definitely would like to get to victory lane there for sure.”
Umm … about that. Busch has a couple second-place finishes at Pocono with those coming in June 2010 and August 2011. But his 21-race Pocono log is dotted with ugly results, including six race finishes of 30th or worst. In last year’s Pennsylvania 400, Busch was 42nd as he had his fifth DNF at the track.
Busch, though, has been strong in qualifying at Pocono, starting in the top-10 in the last five races and 12 times overall. He and the rest of the Cup drivers will be qualifying at 4:45 p.m. Friday for positions in Sunday’s Windows 10 400.
“Yeah, Pocono is certainly a very interesting racetrack,” Busch said. “Obviously it’s nicknamed the Tricky Triangle for a reason. There’s three distinct turns at that racetrack, not like a typical oval track that we go to that has four corners.”
Busch has conquered four corners the past three races at Kentucky, Loudon and Indianapolis. He started his run of four victories in five races at the snaking road course at Sonoma. Jammed inside those wins was 17th at Daytona.
Ah, Daytona. The place where Busch thought his race season had ended before it barely started.
Busch was racing in the Xfinity Series event on the eve of the Daytona 500. The race was nine laps from the finish when several cars tangled on the front stretch. Busch’s car skidded across a paved section of the infield and then a grass portion before slamming into a concrete wall. He was able to get halfway out of the mangle vehicle before needing assistance.
End of the season. At least that’s what Busch thought.
“Yeah, it was a natural reaction initially,” Busch said. “I did think the season was over. I did think it would probably take a full 12 months to recuperate and recover and back to normal.”
Surgeries on his leg at Daytona and foot at Charlotte followed. The prognosis varied from 4-6 months to an entire year before he was back racing. But after three months, he was back in a Cup car at Charlotte and completed all 600 miles in the series’ longest race on the schedule.
“You know, we’re still working on all those time lines,” Busch said. “I’ve still got one more surgery coming up here this offseason. Fortunately everything came to plan actually quicker than we all anticipated, and for me, once I started listening to the doctors and understanding what all was going on and what all I was going to go through, I then realized OK I’m going to be back this year.”