Could Kyle Busch Repeat History?

While the race has come and gone, let's look back at a preview story I wrote for an assignment before the 2025 Daytona 500. “20 years of trying, 20 years of frustration, Dale Earnhardt will come to the caution flag to win the Daytona 500! Finally!” was the iconic call for the finish of the 1998 Daytona 500. This race would be Dale Earnhardt Sr’s first, and final, Daytona 500 win. 27 years later, another driver, also driving a Richard Childress Chevrolet, finds himself 20 years winless at the Great American Race. 

Kyle Busch, a 39 year old Las Vegas native, has been racing in NASCAR since the early 2000’s. He’s accomplished just about everything a driver can in their career, except for a Daytona 500 win. Currently, the two time champ has 230 wins in the top three series, had just lost a win streak of 19 years, and has won several “Crown Jewel” races. Just by reading that alone, you’d agree that Busch’s resume is more than qualified for the “Daytona 500 Champion” position. Daytona, however, doesn’t care about stats. 

Winning at Daytona requires skills that aren’t always used at other tracks. Understanding the draft, how your car pushes and gets pushed, finding holes to squeeze through, and saving just enough fuel. It’s all but the tip of the iceberg of skills you need to have a chance at the checkered flag. You can be the best at all of those skill sets and still not be able to win it at all. Superspeedway racing requires an insane amount of luck. You spend all weekend gambling against wrecks, finding drafting friends, and even weather. 

Unlike his brother, Kurt Busch, Kyle has worse luck than someone who's walked under a ladder. Kurt has not only won a Daytona 500, but has half the amount of “did not finishes” as his younger brother. In 39 starts at the track, (excluding non-points races), Kyle has wrecked out of 12 of them. He finished in the top 10 only 13 times, and has an average finish of 18.1. The only time the track allowed him to win, was in the 2008 Coke Zero 400, where he spent most of the race up front.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the ZONE driver though. His team, Richard Childress Racing, is best known for its Super Speedway cars. Teammate Austin Dillion has won both the 2018 Daytona 500 and the 2022 Coke Zero 400 with his grandfather’s team. Just last season alone, Kyle Busch could be found at the top of the field for both the Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400, and almost won the latter event. Just within the Next Gen era alone (2022-Present) Kyle has an average finish of 9.33 at the track. Even at a newer superspeedway, Atlanta, he was 0.008 seconds away from winning last season, finishing third in the closest Top 3 finish in NASCAR history. All of these stats give the RCR driver a sliver of hope. 

Kyle Busch will line up 21st in his 20th attempt to win the Daytona 500. The race will be broadcast live on FOX and the Fox Sports app at 2 p.m Sunday.