NASCAR Cup Series: Will Kyle Busch break Morgan Shepherd’s record?

Kyle Busch has a chance to break Morgan Shepherd’s all-time record for consecutive top 10 finishes to start a NASCAR Cup Series season in this Saturday night’s race at Kansas Speedway. Will he pull it off?

With his 10th place finish in the 11th race on the 36-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the Gander RV 400, at Dover International Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch became just the second driver in Cup Series history to start a season with 11 consecutive top 10 finishes.

The only other driver who has ever done so is Morgan Shepherd, who started the 1990 season with 11 consecutive top 10 finishes before an engine issue in the season’s 12th race forced him to retire from that race, resulting in his streak of top 10 finishes to start the season coming to an end.

There have been other instances where drivers have recorded at least 11 — in some cases, far more than 11 — consecutive top 10 finishes to open up a Cup Series season. However, Busch and Shepherd are the only drivers who have done so in each of the season’s first 11 races. The other drivers who have done so skipped races before 11 races had been completed in these seasons.

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Lee Petty opened up the 1954 season with 27 consecutive top 10 finishes over the course of the season’s first 30 races while Buck Baker opened up the 1957 season with 26 consecutive top 10 finishes over the course of the season’s first 35 races and Marvin Panch competed in only 12 races throughout the 1963 season and finished in the top nine in all of them.

Meanwhile, David Pearson opened up the 1969 season with 14 consecutive top 10 finishes over the course of the season’s first 16 races and Richard Petty opened up the 1969 season with 15 consecutive top 10 finishes over the course of the season’s first 16 races.

As a result, Busch has a chance to break Shepherd’s record in this Saturday night’s race, the Digital Ally 400, at Kansas Speedway.

Will the 34-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native record a top 10 finish in this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Kansas Speedway oval in Kansas City, Kansas?

Busch has made a total of 22 starts at Kansas Speedway in the Cup Series, and he has earned one victory, six top five finishes and 10 top 10 finishes at the track. His average finishing position there is only 16.32, which is rather low for him.

However, he has recorded eight consecutive top 10 finishes at the track going back to the race there in October of 2014. During this eight-race span of top 10 finishes, he has earned his lone victory and recorded his six top five finishes at the track, and his average finishing position is 5.13.

Will Kyle Busch record his 12th consecutive top 10 finish to open up the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season to break Morgan Shepherd’s all-time record? This Saturday night’s race, the Digital Ally 400, is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 from Kansas Speedway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.