Busch sees strengths overcoming unknowns in NASCAR's second half

Kyle Busch is one of two NASCAR Cup Series drivers with a series-leading three victories as the summer push to the playoffs begins at Nashville Superspeedway.

Busch is sixth in the championship standings and enters Nashville (Sunday, 7 p.m. ET, NBC) working on a stretch of four consecutive top-10 finishes. In his first season driving the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, the two-time series champion has merged his style with those already in play with the group led by crew chief Randall Burnett.

In addition to his three wins, Busch is tied with four other drivers for the most top-10 finishes in the series (nine). While he and his team can contend on a near-weekly basis, Busch found it hard to say how close they are to being championship contenders.

“Looking at the last 10 weeks of the schedule, I would say that we feel pretty confident about how we can go about those weeks and those races,” Busch said Friday. “The only one that you kind of circle right now – maybe two – is obviously Bristol and Martinsville with the short track package and us not being great with that. But the rest of the races I’m actually looking forward to; I feel like there is an even slate there for us to be as good as we’ve been this year and go out there and score good strong runs.”

Busch finished eighth at Phoenix Raceway, 14th at Richmond Raceway, and 21st at Martinsville Speedway with the short track aero package. In the non-points All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, which used the same package, he was never a contender and was so far off the pace was lapped by the dominant Kyle Larson.

More NASCAR

The RACER Mailbag, April 15

How do you win a NASCAR championship under the new format? Turns out it's pretty simple

Like a local: Talladega race weekend

The final 10 races comprise the postseason and have the two proper short-track races Busch mentioned (Bristol and Martinsville). Phoenix does use the short-track package. There are five intermediate races, a superspeedway (Talladega), and the Charlotte road course. Busch won at Talladega earlier this year and finished second in the two road course races (Circuit of The Americas and Sonoma).

“So, championship caliber team? I would say our guys are super good at building some really good cars. We’ve had some really good stuff,” Busch continued. “The job that each member on the team has been doing has been top-notch. I get in the car, all my stuff’s there, the windshield tear-offs are right, the blackout is good. Details.

“It comes down to the details and so, to me, from what I can tell, it’s where we need to be. Praises to them, and I’m looking forward to racing out the rest of the year with the way that we’ve had our start.”

There have been 10 different winners through 16 races, and 10 races remain in the regular season. Busch hasn’t seen any one driver or team that has stood out or separated themselves from the field as far as being the leading championship contender.

“Honestly, last year the No. 22 (Joey Logano) won the championship, and he came out of nowhere,” Busch explained. “They were terrible through the summer, and it kind of looks the same right now. So, anything can happen.

“That’s why it’s hard for me to answer that question: are you a championship-caliber team? Well, yeah, but I think there are probably 12 others. There are a lot more unknowns with the Next Gen car and how you go to these racetracks and with just how sporadic finishes can be and people running into each other. You think somebody is going to go out and win a race and they get wrecked, and then somebody else does that’s a surprise winner.

“You just never know. You just got to play it out.”