Kyle Busch shares common ground with the man he tied, Tony Stewart

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Beyond their shared 49 victories in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart are on similar sure-footed paths toward their inevitable ultimate days in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Busch’s victory Sunday at Pocono tied him with Stewart on the sport’s all-time wins list -- a feat immediately recognized by the retired three-time champ. “Congrats on win #49 today @kylebusch. There’s many more to come. Proud of you," Stewart posted on his Twitter account, adding two emojis of “thumbs up.” RELATED: Stewart congratulates Kyle Busch on No. 49 Busch, who was teammates with Stewart at Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2008 season, was genuinely moved by Stewart’s message -- and by the feat. “That’s awesome,” Busch said about tying Stewart. “And you keep reaching higher up the ladder and you keep reaching milestone drivers, and Tony Stewart is one of the all-time best -- and one of the drivers that I was a fan of as well growing up so it’s awesome to be able to tie him.” Even with a decade generation gap, these two hard-nosed, natural talents share many competitive traits in terms of racing talent and professional demeanor. And as their paths to NASCAR history cross, it’s interesting and revealing to explore the similarities and differences that separated them from others. They are intense competitors, both willing to share their disappointment as well as their accomplishment -- apt to take shots at themselves, the media, their team, their cars, even the sanctioning body -- when results don’t match expectations. They have been brutally candid in a time when others are prone to demure and gloss over. Political correctness has never been their style. They are genuine and honest -- in good times and bad -- a lost art for many star athletes no matter the sport these days. Does losing hurt? You bet it does. Does winning feel incredibly good? You bet it does. Look at their faces, listen to the tone of voice, watch the emotion. Fortunately, in the case of both Busch and Stewart -- winning has more often been the way of life and ultimately what will define both these supremely talented champions. Here’s a look at how they tallied their historic numbers: It took Stewart -- who retired in 2016 -- 598 starts to reach 49 wins. He didn’t start competing in the Monster Energy Series full-time until 1999 when he was 28 years old -- arriving in the stock-car ranks already the first driver in history to win the USAC Triple Crown (Sprint Cars, Midgets and Silver Crown) in 1995 and then earning the Indy Racing League championship in 1997. Busch, on the other hand, was only 20 years old before landing a full-time Cup job with Hendrick Motorsports in 2005. He finished runner-up in the 2004 Xfinity Series championship and had only a handful of Camping World Truck Series starts by the time he made his full-time Cup debut. RELATED: The times Busch, Stewart finished 1-2 Both drivers won immediately at the Cup level, however. Stewart won three races in his 1999 rookie season -- at Richmond, Phoenix and Homestead-Miami -- and finished fourth in the championship run that year. Busch won two races his 2005 rookie season -- at Fontana and Phoenix. He was only 20th in the championship standings, however, while Stewart hoisted his first of three season trophies. Stewart won races at 21 different tracks on the schedule -- with a personal high, and still series record of five victories at Watkins Glen where the series races this week. His wins covered the gamut of superspeedways to short tracks to 1.5-milers to road courses. He won multiple times on 15 tracks. Busch has won races at 23 tracks -- and claims multiple wins at 14 tracks. His seven victories at Bristol Motor Speedway are a personal best. As with Stewart, he has won on every type of venue on the schedule. While Stewart and Busch have championships to their credit, neither has won the Daytona 500 in a combined 30 starts. The numbers and statistics represent the elite, championship-caliber talent Busch and Stewart share -- and with Busch rapidly adding to his win total, there seems to be limitless opportunity to expand his historical imprint. Next up on the historical Cup victory chart is win No. 50, which would tie Busch with NASCAR Hall of Famers Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett. With his win Sunday, Busch tied Kevin Harvick with six wins each this season. The 2015 champion is not only in a title chase but is also within eight victories of another historic milestone -- 200 NASCAR wins -- a tally associated with the great Richard Petty, who earned them all in the Cup Series. Busch’s total would represent all three major NASCAR divisions -- he has 49 wins in Cup, 92 in the Xfinity Series and 51 in the Camping World Truck Series for a total of 192 victories. Just for perspective, NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson has 106 wins (all but one in the Cup Series). Dale Earnhardt had 97 national series wins (76 in Cup and 21 in Xfinity), Jeff Gordon has 98 total (93 in Cup, five in Xfinity) and Stewart has 62 national series victories (49 in Cup, 11 in Xfinity and two in the trucks). “Any time you're able to continue to win races in this series, it's obviously just that extra step, and you keep continuing to climb the ladder," Busch said following Sunday’s Pocono win. “There's a lot of great names that I've passed already and that I've tied today with Tony and that I very much look up to that are higher and look to one day be able to accomplish all of them."