NASCAR: Kyle Busch wins 2019 Best Driver ESPY Award
By Asher Fair
NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch has been voted the winner of the 2019 Best Driver ESPY Award over Lewis Hamilton, Scott Dixon and Steve Torrence.
The 2019 ESPY Awards award ceremony took place Wednesday, July 10 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, and one of the annual awards of this ceremony is the Best Driver ESPY Award.
Four drivers were nominated for this year’s Best Driver ESPY Award, including Formula 1‘s Lewis Hamilton, NASCAR‘s Kyle Busch, IndyCar‘s Scott Dixon and NHRA‘s Steve Torrence.
Busch was named the winner of this award.
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The 34-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native finished in fourth place in the 2018 championship standings despite the fact that he accrued the most points throughout the season, as he came up short in the Championship 4 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway by finishing in fourth behind the three other championship-eligible drivers.
Throughout the season, the driver of the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry tied his career-high with eight victories, which tied third place championship finisher Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing for the most victories among all drivers.
Busch also set new career-high marks in top five finishes (22) and top 10 finishes (28) throughout the 36-race season, and he recorded was what by far his career-high average finishing position of 8.3 after leading 1,469 of the 10,001 laps that he completed.
Busch was, however, the only nominee for this award who did not win a 2018 championship. He finished behind champion Joey Logano of Team Penske and runner-up Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing in addition to third place Harvick.
Through the first 18 races of the 36-race 2019 season, Busch sits in second place in the championship standings behind Logano but leads the playoff picture. He is tied for the series lead in victories with Truex Jr., now one of his teammates, with four.
Truex Jr. won the 2018 Best Driver ESPY Award after winning the 2017 championship with the top point total and a series-high eight victories.
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This nomination was Kyle Busch’s third nomination for the Best Driver ESPY Award, and it was his second time winning it, as he also won it in 2016 after winning the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series championship. This nomination was Lewis Hamilton’s sixth, Scott Dixon’s sixth and Steve Torrence’s first for this award. Hamilton won it in 2017, but Dixon has never won it.