Busch’s Martinsville playground should set up smooth Round of 8

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Over the past six races at Martinsville Speedway, Kyle Busch has yet to finish outside of the top five, the only driver still alive in the NASCAR Playoffs sporting that stat. However, that wasn’t always the case at the "Paperclip." By the numbers, Busch’s Martinsville stats were ho-hum before 2015 -- he ran middle of the pack. So, what changed? In 2015, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team faced plenty of challenges and obstacles. Busch missed the first third of the season with leg injuries suffered in the Xfinity Series season opener in Daytona. But perhaps the longer-reaching change was the assignment of first-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series crew chief Adam Stevens, who Busch credits for his recent success at the half-mile Virginia track. RELATED: Active drivers with short-track wins | Closer look at Busch's 2017 win "You know this track changes quite a bit throughout the entirety of the event and through 500 laps so I think being able to give better feedback," Busch said Saturday after opening practice for Sunday's First Data 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM). "I think having Adam not scared to make adjustments as he knows what's going to happen and what he feels is right in his gut that allows us to be up front." The numbers don't lie. Since the 2015 season, Busch has racked up two wins at Martinsville and six top-five finishes. He will start Sunday's race from the pole position. The slate of races after Martinsville in the postseason's Round of 8 line up well for the No. 18 team as well. Busch came away from Texas this spring with a victory. He has a string of six top-10 finishes at Phoenix, and in the last three events at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Busch has finishes of first, sixth and second. "We know we go into some of these race tracks maybe a little bit behind," Busch said, "but I feel like with Adam and myself with the way we are able to work together and the things we are able to do together, we can have solid runs and solid finishes and even try to chase for wins."