2016 Season Review: Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch started the 2016 season hot with a top-10 finish at Daytona followed by consecutive Coors Light Pole Awards at Atlanta and Las Vegas. He finished fourth and ninth at those races, respectively.

Busch's top-10 finishes in 12 of the season's first 14 races led to a breakthrough return to Victory Lane at Pocono for the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team. He earned the victory with interim crew chief John Klausmeier on top of the box for the suspended Tony Gibson.

Busch's consistency was on display from a 10-race stretch of top 10s from Texas on April 9 to Sonoma on June 26. During that time, the 2004 champion also notched four top fives.

Busch also had a streak of 22 lead-lap finishes to start the season (25 if you go back to the Texas Chase race in 2015). This streak ended with a crash and a 38th-place finish for the No. 41 Chevrolet at the Bristol summer race

Busch's win at Pocono and consistently strong performance were enough to secure the 2004 champion a berth in the 2016 Chase. Through the 26 regular-season races, Busch had 17 top 10s and was in the top 10 in points.

Busch and teammate Kevin Harvick tangled at Talladega, trading paint on the cool-down lap after the race in which Harvick finished seventh and Busch fourth. On pit road, Harvick confronted Busch, while his teammate was still in the car.

Busch's 2016 Chase ended in the Round of 8 with finishes of 22nd at Martinsville, 20th at Fort Worth, and fifth at Phoenix. This was the second straight year Busch was eliminated in the Round of 8.

Busch announced his biggest personal news of 2016 at the awards banquet in Las Vegas: He will wed Ashley Van Metre during the offseason.