Kyle Busch Looks to Tie Bill Elliott on All-Time Wins List in Cup Series

After finishing inside the top-three the last three weekends, Kyle Busch returns to a track he's won at, and won at recently. This Sunday Busch will pilot the No. 18 M&M's Caramel Toyota Camry in Sunday's STP 500. Busch secured his first grandfather clock in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2016 and earned his second last October. Sunday, Busch seeks to earn his first victory since October.

“We’ve run well the last two years especially at Martinsville and we’re definitely pumped about getting back there," Busch said in the release. "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.”

Last October, Busch earned his 43rd victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. With that victory, Busch stands alone in 17th on the all-time wins list. On Sunday Busch will look to tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott with his 44th victory in the series putting him in 16th on the all-time wins list. Though Martinsville is one of the tougher tracks on the NASCAR schedule, Busch will surely be a threat on Sunday should he and his team do everything right.

“It’s a tough racetrack and, any time you come in the pits and make an adjustment on your car, you certainly hope it goes the right way, or you make enough of it, or you don’t make too much of an adjustment. The last run can be tricky, too, because you can be coming off a 50-lap run on right-side tires and take four and you’ve only got 30 (laps) to go, or you could have 80 to go and you know you have to manage that run all the way to the end.”

Though 263 miles is the shortest milage that the series has ran so far this season, 500 laps around the Martinsville Speedway is tough and takes a lot out of a driver.

“I think just being able to get comfortable, get settled, and make sure that you’re good to go for those long hauls," Busch explained. "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.” (Koelle,2018 - quotes from KyleBusch.com)

Photo Credit - Brandon Wright/Brandon Wright Photography