NASCAR: Will Kyle Busch earn his 200th career victory at Fontana?

Kyle Busch is set to enter this weekend at Auto Club Speedway with 199 career NASCAR victories. Will he earn his 200th career victory before it concludes?

After entering the 2019 NASCAR season with a total of 194 career NASCAR victories, including 51 career Cup Series victories, an all-time record 92 career Xfinity Series victories and 51 career Truck Series victories (tied with Ron Hornaday Jr. for the all-time record), Kyle Busch is one win away from tying the all-time NASCAR wins record.

Richard Petty, who only ever competed in the Cup Series, currently holds this record and has done so for several decades. He earned an all-time record 200 Cup Series victories over the course of his NASCAR career.

Busch is set to enter this weekend at Auto Club Speedway, during which he is set to compete in the Xfinity Series race, the Production Alliance Group 300, and the Cup Series race, the Auto Club 400, at the track, with 199 career NASCAR victories.

The 33-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native has earned five victories in his eight NASCAR starts so far this season. In four Cup Series starts in 2019, he has earned one victory, as he won the season’s fourth race at ISM Raceway.

Meanwhile, he has earned two victories in his first two Xfinity Series starts of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway, and he has earned two victories in his first two Truck Series starts of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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As a result, Busch has now earned 52 career Cup Series victories, an all-time record 94 career Xfinity Series victories and an all-time record 53 career Truck Series victories.

One more win for Busch in any of these three series would mean that he would be tied with Petty for the all-time NASCAR wins record, and two more wins would mean that he would become the new recordholder.

Nobody else is even remotely within reach of his catching and surpassing Busch’s career win total, as the two drivers who are tied for third place on the all-time wins list both have 106 career victories to their names. These two drivers are David Pearson and Kevin Harvick. Harvick, like Busch, is an active driver, but he is also more than nine years older than Busch.

Will Busch earn his 200th career victory at the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) Auto Club Speedway oval in Fontana, California this weekend, and if so, will he earn his 201st as well?

In 18 career Xfinity Series starts at Auto Club Speedway, Busch has earned six victories, 12 top three finishes and 15 top nine finishes. His average finish in these 18 starts is 6.11. In 20 career Cup Series starts at the track, he has earned three victories, seven top three finishes and 14 top 10 finishes. His average finish in these 20 starts is 10.40.

Busch’s impressive resume at Auto Club Speedway in both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series as well as the fact that he has earned three victories in six starts in these two series so far this season without finishing any race in lower than sixth place make him the undisputed favorite to win both of this weekend’s races.

While winning both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series races at Auto Club Speedway this weekend like he did at ISM Raceway last weekend may prove to be a bit more challenging for Busch, it is hard to see the weekend ending without him having gotten to victory lane at least once.

But even if Busch does not get to victory lane at all this weekend, don’t expect it to be too long before he earns his 200th and his 201st career NASCAR victories to tie and break Petty’s all-time record. In addition to being lined up to compete in the remaining 31 races on this year’s Cup Series schedule (not including this weekend’s race), he is also lined up to compete in four more Xfinity Series races and three more Truck Series races as well.

Busch is set to compete in the Xfinity Series races at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 30, Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 3, Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, August 16 and Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 7. He is set compete in the Truck Series races at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, March 23, Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, March 29 and Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 17.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Auto Club Speedway, the Production Alliance Group 300, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 16, and it is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET. The Cup Series race at the track, the Auto Club 400, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 17, and it is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. Be sure to tune in to both of these races.