See what the driver of the No. 18 Toyota needs to make the Chase
With only nine races left until the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, it's time to check up on Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, as he tries to rebound from early-season injuries and make the Chase.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED: Busch finished 17th in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, not bad considering he scraped the wall in Turn 4 on Lap 17. He was trying to pass Jamie McMurray when his car got loose and hit the outside wall. He went two laps down before rebounding to get on the lead lap. And he managed to avoid more damage in a night filled with big wrecks at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
WHAT HE NEEDS: With a win in hand, Busch now just needs to finish in the top 30 in the points standings to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. After Daytona, he is unofficially in 37th place, 128 points behind the 30th-place driver Cole Whitt. According to NASCAR statistical services, if all things continue at this pace, Busch roughly needs an average finish of between 13th and 14th place over the next nine races.
WHAT'S NEXT: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Kentucky Speedway, where Kyle Busch is no stranger to success. He has a win, three top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes in four starts at the 1.5-mile track. He starts well (6.2 average starting position) and finishes well (4.5 average finish, tied with JGR teammate Matt Kenseth for the best mark at this track). He has also led the second-most laps of all drivers at Kentucky (only Brad Keselowski has led more), totaling 274 circuits at the point (out of the 1,068 laps there). The 30-year-old is also a loop data darling in the Bluegrass State, with the best average running position (5.270), driver rating (124.3), the fastest car on restarts (164.832 mph), fastest car under green flag conditions (172.614 mph) and has spent all but 65 laps running in the top 15 at Kentucky. Bottom line, it would be a major surprise if Busch doesn't run well at Kentucky to improve his position as he looks to make the Chase.