Martinsville Speedway has become a favorite for Kyle Busch in recent years.
It’s a trend the Joe Gibbs Racing driver looks to continue in Sunday’s STP 500.
In the last five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races held at the .526-mile short track, Busch has not finished outside the top five. That stretch carries two victories in the mix including his trip to Victory Lane last October.
Busch’s Martinsville success is relatively new. In his first 21 career Cup starts at the track he could only muster nine top-five finishes and went winless. That changed in 2016 when Busch scored his first career Martinsville Cup victory and he hasn’t looked back from there.
He’s led a total of 810 laps in his past four Martinsville starts including 184 en route to last October’s win.
Sunday is his next chance to keep the streak going.
“We’ve run well the last two years especially at Martinsville and we’re pumped about getting back there,” Busch said. “I’m hoping we can have a really good car there again this time around, like we did the last two years, especially.
“We led a lot of laps and we were really fast. Hoping that some of those things we were able to push through there last fall at Martinsville we’ll be able to do this time around with our M&M’s Caramel Camry.”
The 500-lap grind around the Virginia short track is definitely a challenge. Busch says one of the keys to being successful is finding a rhythm and routine as early in the race as possible and maintaining it all afternoon.
“I think just being able to get comfortable, get settled, and make sure that you’re good to go for those long hauls,” Busch said. “Don’t worry about what lap it is, ever, during a race. That’s the worst thing that could happen to you.
“You just try to not ever worry about what lap you’re on or what’s going on around you. You just keep battling, keep driving, keep your focus forward on what you’re doing. That’s the best way to go about those long, long races.”
Busch is still searching for his first win of the 2018 season but has started off the year strong. He comes to Martinsville on the heels of a third place performance in last week’s Auto Club 400.
His focus now is to add to the impressive stats he’s racked up at Martinsville so far in his career, which includes two wins, 13 top-five finishes and 14 top-10s and a total of 1,300 laps in 25 career Cup Series starts. Busch’s average Martinsville finish is 13.1.
He’s hoping this year’s first victory comes at Martinsville along with the extra goal of bringing home another of the track’s coveted grandfather clocks.
Busch says he’ll have no problem adding one to his collection.
“One’s at home in the foyer and I had to turn off the buzzer because it’s close to (son) Brexton’s room, so we don’t get to hear it,” he explained. “We heard it a couple of times while it went off, but then I turned it off. And then, the other ones, we have at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports).”
