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March 12, 2024

Kyle Busch on who would win a 10-lap dash at Bristol — him or Dale Earnhardt


One of the most enjoyable parts of being a sports fan is, of course, “remembering some guys” — along with occasionally breaking off into side conversations about who a sport’s true “G.O.A.T.” is across any era.

It’s a familiar argument: MJ vs. LeBron. Montana vs. Brady. Petty vs. Earnhardt vs. Johnson. You know the drill.

What makes these discussions unique among NASCAR fans, however, is that drivers race at wildly different tracks each weekend, and certain drivers can be totally human at one, while completely untouchable at another.

Enter Kyle Busch.

Still one of the sport’s all-time greats — not to mention its all-time winningest — Busch falls just short of the greatest-of-all-time discussion (at least for now), with his two Cup Series titles paling in comparison to the seven each that Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson and Richard Petty all collected.

But at Bristol Motor Speedway? There’s no driver that’s torn up the Tennessee high banks this millennium better than Rowdy.

MORE: Full Bristol weekend schedule

kyle busch bows at bristol

The future Hall of Famer has two more trips to Victory Lane there (eight total) than any other track — and five more than any other active driver has. His 2,593 laps led count there is more than 1,000 higher than at his next-best track, Richmond Raceway, where he’s actually run two more races.

The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing driver’s style of racing is perfectly suited for sustained Bristol success, and has, for fairly obvious reasons, often been compared to RCR’s most recent champion — The Intimidator.

Earnhardt also repeatedly staked a claim in Bristol lore, nearly cracking double-digits in the win column (nine) while turning in the best average finish (9.3) the track has seen among drivers with more than six starts there. It was also the site of his first Cup Series win — as a rookie! — in 1979.

RELATED: All 76 of Earnhardt’s Cup Series wins

Seeing these two drivers compete against one another truly would’ve been something to behold, and at Bristol, even more so.

Our friends at NASCAR on NBC, thus, posited the question on Tuesday with NASCAR set to take on Bristol this weekend: in a 10-lap dash to the finish at Bristol with both drivers in their prime, who wins?

Busch actually chimed in himself and gave, honestly, the perfect answer.

Well, there you have it. Hard to argue that. It would be a beating, banging battle for the ages.

One thing’s for sure, though — we wouldn’t want to miss it.

Tune in Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to see if Busch can break back into Victory Lane at Bristol for the first time since 2019.

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