Kyle Busch, the driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, sits in his car during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on July 22, 2017, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Photo – Tim Bradbury/Getty Images
Kyle Busch’s appearance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend involves more numbers than anyone could be expected to remember.
First and foremost, Busch has a chance to win a third straight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at the 2.5-mile track. No other driver has ever accomplished that feat on the oval—either in Cup or IndyCar Series racing.
In fact, Jimmie Johnson (2008-2009) is the only driver in NASCAR’s top series to win back-to-back races at the vaunted Brickyard. In more than 100 years of IndyCar racing five drivers have won consecutive Indianapolis 500s—Wilbur Shaw (1939-1940), Mauri Rose (1947-1948), Bill Vukovich (1953-1954), Al Unser Sr. (1970-1971), and most recently Helio Castroneves (2001-2002).
Michael Schumacher won four straight Formula One races at the track, but those victories—all for Ferrari—came on the road course, not the oval.
If Busch happens to win the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 on Sunday at 2:30 pm ET on NBC, he’ll erase another significant number. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota hasn’t won a race in NASCAR’s premier series since last year’s run at the Brickyard, a dry spell that reached 35 races last week at New Hampshire.
“It’s pretty cool to come in here thinking that we have a chance to go for three-in-a-row and, you know, it’s ultimately frustrating in the same breath that, you know, it’s been 365 days since we’ve won one of these things,” Busch said. “It’s certainly hasn’t been from lack of effort or fast race cars…
“It’s just every single week it just seems to be something else that kind of bites us, you know? It’s not the same thing over and over again that we’ve got to fix, so it’s just little things here or there that keep kind of working against us.”
At some point, Busch would also like to become the first driver to win both a Brickyard 400 and an Indy 500—but he’ll have to find a way to run the Indy 500 first. Busch had a deal in place to do the double until his NASCAR boss intervened.
Busch’s team owner is Joe Gibbs.
“I had it done last year – sold and everything ready to go – and I’ve got a boss that said no,” Busch said. “Figure it out. I’ve got two bosses – one’s a male and one’s a female. I would certainly (want to run the Indy 500). I thought that I had a great opportunity to do it.”
There’s one other number Busch definitely remembers about the Brickyard. Ten years ago Friday, he met his wife Samantha while giving ride-arounds at the speedway.
“I wasn’t very well known, obviously, in the Cup tour then, so it was just kind of fun, and we exchanged numbers there and then I actually didn’t see her again for three months,” Busch said. “But we talked on the phone and she… I finally got her talked into coming to another race…
“So that was a long time ago and from there, (we) just kind of hit it off and have been together ever since.”