Kyle Busch And Why Missing Eleven Races Doesn’t Matter
It’s an old question already, but one that still merits asking following his victory in yesterday’s Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard: Has Kyle Busch earned his waiver to compete in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and should it matter that he has missed 11 races this season.?
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Remember, Busch sat out the first 11 races of 2015 following injuries sustained in the Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona in February. The No. 18 Toyota that he normally pilots was instead taken over by Matt Crafton, David Ragan, and Erik Jones. Meanwhile, his Xfinity Series No. 54 was taken over by others, including Jones, Sprint Cup teammate Denny Hamlin, and Boris Said.
However, upon his return to competition, he was granted a waiver to compete for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup before he reeled off some strong finishes at Charlotte and Pocono despite disappointing DNFs at Dover and Michigan. But following his Xfinity win at Michigan in his first race back in the No. 54, he went on a winning streak in the Sprint Cup Series. First, he put on a gutsy performance at Sonoma and won on the road course. Then two weeks later he won at Kentucky. The next week a win at Loudon, then just this past weekend a sweep of both the Xfinity and Cup events at Indianapolis.
So, has Busch earned his Chase waiver and the right to be in the chase? Absolutely.
It’s not a question of if he’ll make the Chase. It’s a given he’ll make it come Richmond, and with that he’ll earn prime position when the Chase begins. But given his recent performance a Chase spot wouldn’t be enough. The last time a driver won three straight events and four in five weeks was Jimmie Johnson in 2007. Of course, he won the championship that year. That being said, what the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota is showing the rest of the world is that they are championship caliber, and they won’t consider 2015 a success unless they’re among the Final Four at Homestead in November.
Sure, purists will rattle off that a true champion earns a title by running a full season, and granted, that is a strong argument. A title contender who misses an event surely wouldn’t like having an asterisk by their victory. But as for the true champion argument? David Pearson won three titles, and he never ran a complete season during any of those campaigns. Richard Petty’s first two championships were won despite not competing in every event as well.
In other words, the “full season” argument is moot. The championship should go to the team that earns it given the circumstance, and in this case, the No. 18 JGR Toyota crew and Busch are earning their spot and making a strong argument that they should be a force to reckon with when the Chase for the Sprint Cup rolls around in September.
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