Kurt Busch can finally click his heels: earns first Cup win at Kansas and now is on hunt for Toto
EDITOR'S NOTE: All results, driver standings and race notes are at bottom of this story.
The measure of a man isn’t just whether he wins a race every now and then, but rather how consistent he is.
And Kurt Busch is definitely a man of consistency.
The Las Vegas native became the 11th different winner in NASCAR Cup this season, earning the 34th win of his Cup career in Sunday’s Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway.
While that number is certainly worthy of eventual NASCAR Hall of Fame induction, the more notable fact is that the elder Busch brother has now won at least one race in every full-time season that he’s competed in on the Cup circuit since 2001 -- with the exception of just three seasons (his first full season in 2001, as well as 2012 and 2013, when he went winless in both).
But there’s another element of Busch’s consistency – or you might want to call it persistence. He’s wanted a win at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway his entire career, covering 33 prior starts, but never reached victory lane until Sunday’s triumph.
In so doing, Busch passes the legendary Fireball Roberts to move into 24th on the all-time NASCAR Cup wins list, yet another indicator that once he hangs up his firesuit for good, he’s likely a first-ballot lock to be chosen for the Hall.
“It's all about teamwork,” Busch told Fox Sports. “I mean, I don't do this alone, and the way that Toyota has helped us, JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing). My little brother has been so important just on the family side of, hey, you've got to get through these steps.
“Bubba (Wallace) is a tremendous teammate, but this is 23XI. This is our first win for the 45 car and with Jordan Brand on the hood. I felt like I had to play like the GOAT (Greatest of All Time), race like the GOAT, and I had to beat the Kyles. I had to beat both (his brother Kyle Busch and defending Cup Series champ Kyle Larson).”
And beat both Kyles he did.
Heck, Kurt even brought team co-owner and Cup racing rival, Denny Hamlin, to tears as the 23XI team captured its second career Cup win Sunday (Wallace captured the team’s first triumph last year at Talladega).
“It's huge, I'm so proud of Kurt," Hamlin said with a sniffle, somewhat at a loss for words. "We as an organization let these guys down with silly mistakes made on pit road. But I can’t thank Kurt enough. That thing was so fast there. I’ve never had certainly this kind of feeling, even for a win for me when I did win. It’s just different.”
Hamlin co-owns the team with NBA legend Michael Jordan, and the pair brought in Busch this season to do two very crucial things: win races and help serve as a mentor for his younger teammate, Wallace.
Busch has already done a great deal of good mentoring to Wallace this year, and now he adds the second part of why he was signed to the team – with the potential possibility that he may win even more races this season.
Ironically, Busch has now won at least one race in each of the last nine seasons.
“It's the most gratifying to work from the ground up with a brand new car number,” Busch told Fox. “Yes, I have been with a lot of teams, a lot of manufacturers. Now, this is the check off the Toyota box, but it's about family.
“I love my family at home. I love my KBI employees and everybody at 23XI. This is for us. This is what the hard work is all about no matter if you lose a couple of spots on pit road, no matter if our car was a basket of whatever to start.”
And with that, Busch seemingly clicked his heels and was off to his next conquest, one that made many chuckle: “I'm going to go find Toto. I'm in Kansas. I'm loving it.”
Follow Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
