Busch needs to finish top 30 in points to make the 16-driver postseason
RELATED: What Busch needs to make the Chase
SONOMA, Calif. – Kyle Busch made it into the winner’s circle here Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, clearing the second of three hurdles that have faced the Joe Gibbs driver with mended extremities and championship aspirations.
NASCAR officials gave Busch a pass on the first when they shouldered the blame for his own driving error earlier this season at Daytona.
The requirement that a driver attempt all 26 races leading up to the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup was waived. The 11 races he missed due to a broken right leg and left foot have been forgiven if not forgotten.
The sanctioning body didn’t have to take into consideration the second qualifier – winning a points race. Busch, in just his fifth start of the season, needed no help there.
He became the 11th driver to win this season when he captured the Toyota/Save Mart 350, driving away from his older brother and a handful of others over the final five laps in his No. 18 Toyota.
Unlike the previous 10 winners, however, Busch still has work to do. And the third and final hurdle might be the most difficult of all to overcome.
To qualify for the Chase, Busch also has to be in the top 30 in driver points. With 10 races remaining before the Chase field is set, he’ll need an average finish of no worse than 14th, based on current standings, to make it.
In the five races he’s run since his return, his average finish has been 20th.
“Certainly it’s feasible,” Busch said after his latest victory, the 30th of his career. “There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be.
“This team is good enough to be that way, and I should be good enough to be that way.
“I certainly put us in a hole bigger than it should have been at Dover and at Michigan. Those were entirely my fault … and I’ve got to be better than that. We can’t have any more of those.”
RELATED: Victory Lane 1-on-1 with Busch
At Dover, he finished 36th after a crash and at Michigan he ended up last in the 43-car field, also after a crash.
When he hasn’t wrecked, he’s been 11th, ninth and now first.
Busch sits 37th as the series gets ready to head back to Daytona, site of his accident earlier this year. He trails 30th-place Cole Whitt by 136.
His return to the winner’s circle didn’t go unnoticed by his fellow drivers, who understand how tough the road has been for the 30-year-old.
“It’s a great story and he’s quite a fighter and quite a competitor,” said four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon. “And I’m proud of him for how he’s handled this whole situation and the team as well in being patient.
“That’s a great win for him. I know it means a lot.”
Clearing that final hurdle, though, is going to take a lot more, and would mean a lot more.
Busch has qualified for the Chase seven times in 10 seasons. Getting there has seldom been the issue in the past.
“It’s not going to happen in one week,” said Busch. “That’s not how this business ever works. You’ve certainly got to play it out all the way through. That’s one of the things that maybe I haven’t been so good at over the years.”
RELATED: Victory Lane 1-on-1 with crew chief Adam Stevens
In his 11th full season, Busch hasn’t found himself outside the top 30 in points very often – only three times during his career in fact. And all three came as a result of slow starts at the beginning of a season – as a rookie in ’05, again in ’09 and most recently in ’13.
None of the three instances were lasting; by the third race of the year he was inside the top 30 on each occasion.
The points deficit is a bit steeper this time around and the margin of error much smaller. But, as he said, a chance still exists.
“Ten weeks is a long time, so we’ve just got to do our job … we can’t screw up,” Busch said. “I can’t screw up and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) has got to be smart on the box as well, make some good calls.
“We made some really good ones (at Sonoma), so there’s no reason why we can’t put ourselves in a good position to win some more.”
Do that, of course, and his Chase eligibility will no longer be in doubt.