Busch vs. Larson: Both Kyles have strong Auto Club potential

Kyle Busch is the only active driver with multiple Cup Series wins at Auto Club Speedway, claiming four in 22 career starts. The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota wheelman has led in 15 of those races for a total of 807 laps, another garage high. Both those marks fall second on their respective all-time lists, coming short only to seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who accomplished six wins and 990 laps led in Fontana, California. Another Kyle, however, could very well steal the spotlight Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM). Kyle Larson, the reigning champ, also has a strong, albeit more limited, history at Auto Club. [pickup_prop id="21047"] AUTO CLUB: Weekend schedule | Paint schemes | Betting odds In seven career starts, Larson has won one race and finished runner-up twice on the 2-mile track. The kicker, Larson did that while with Chip Ganassi Racing. He now works for Hendrick Motorsports, which has won 11 of the 31 events held at Auto Club overall, including the last stop in 2020 with Alex Bowman. (COVID-19 prevented NASCAR’s visit in 2021.) Two of Bowman’s teammates placed within the top 10, too. Once Larson joined the Hendrick Motorsports stable, bringing back the No. 5 Chevrolet last year, he won a series-best 10 races and the Cup Series championship. Speaking of titleholders, 24 races at Auto Club have been won by a champion. Bowman is the only one without a title to win the last 15.

Those still racing include Bowman, Larson, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and both the Busch brothers. Another interesting factoid, not necessarily centered around the Busch-Larson dynamic but does involve them, the Stage 1 winner is undefeated at Auto Club since the format was introduced in 2017. Larson was the first to pull off this feat. Truex did in 2018, Busch in 2019 and Bowman in 2020. Truex and Busch also won Stage 2 en route to their victories, while Larson and Bowman came in second during theirs. Sunday’s stages will conclude on Laps 65, 130 and 200. Practice and qualifying are back this season after a COVID-19 hiatus – learn all about the new format here – which means Larson could also snag yet another honor from Busch this weekend. Larson has won the last two poles – at Daytona International Speedway for last week’s season opener and Phoenix Raceway for last year’s season finale. The most recent competitor to land three straight No. 1 starting spots was Busch in 2017. Busch and Larson currently own one Auto Club pole apiece with Larson winning in 2017 from the pole position. The stats are skewed toward Busch, but BetMGM pegs Larson as the race favorite at 7-2 odds to win. Busch is listed at 7-1. Potential seems to be outweighing history.