NASCAR: Stewart-Haas Racing 2018 outlook
Kurt Busch
The 2017 season started out as well as it possibly could with a Daytona 500 victory for Kurt Busch, but the rest of the season didn’t play out in that same progression. He was down to only 15 top 10 finishes on the season and he finished in 14th place in the standings.
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Busch has been able to stay relevant at SHR and has remained a threat every year, but he’s one of the veteran drivers that could be feeling the effect of age catching up with him and youth rising up to take positions away.
The competitive fire that we’re so accustomed to seeing from Busch wasn’t there last year, and he didn’t seem to be the same driver, at least in my opinion.
Everyone has a down year, and SHR did struggle somewhat last year after the shift to a new manufacturer, so that could be part of the problem.
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Don’t get me wrong; I think Kurt Busch is an amazing driver and potentially one of the best behind the wheel every week, but something seems different. Hopefully it’s nothing, but could the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season have been the start of a decline for Busch? I think we’re still going to see Busch win a race in the Cup Series in 2018, but I’m going to need some convincing before I call him a championship contender.