NASCAR: Retirement on the horizon for Kyle Busch?
By Asher Fair
Here’s what Kyle Busch needs to do throughout the 2021 season to retire from the NASCAR Xfinity Series competition once the year ends.
Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has been very clear.
Once he reaches 100 Xfinity Series wins, he will be done competing at NASCAR’s second highest level, unless Joe Gibbs needs him to fill in here and there.
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Here is what he had to say about the matter back in November 2019, according to Jayski.
"“Yeah, I’ve said it over and over again. I would be there by now and I would have been out of it by now but apparently NASCAR and the fans love me there so much they keep make limitations on keeping me there. I’ve also said that I’ll get to 100 and then I don’t need to be there. That’s just kind of a number I would like to get to.”"
Due to NASCAR’s restrictions on full-time Cup Series drivers with at least five years of experience, Busch is only allowed to compete in five Xfinity Series races per year.
Unsurprisingly, the winningest driver in Xfinity Series history is set to take advantage of that maximum race allotment again this year, just as he always does.
He is slated to compete in the races at Circuit of the Americas, Texas Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Road America and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Those races are scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 22 (this afternoon); Saturday, June 12; Saturday, June 19, Saturday, July 3 and Saturday, July 10, respectively.
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Busch entered the 2021 season with 97 career victories to his name. That number had been 98 for a few hours, but his #54 Toyota failed post-race inspection after he won at Texas Motor Speedway last July. He ended the 2020 season with just one official win in five starts.
While three wins in five races for Busch doesn’t seem like much and seems more than achievable this year, it is far from a given. Two of the last three seasons have seen him win just one race, including in 2018 when the limit was seven races, not five. He won four of his seven starts in 2019 before winning just one of his five starts in 2020.
But even in 2020, he finished every race inside the top three, save for his disqualification (which he technically “finished” in first place), and he very well could be at 100 wins already.
Aside from his victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he finished in third place at Phoenix Raceway, second at Darlington Raceway and third at Richmond Raceway.
Interestingly enough, he has never won 60% of his starts in any Xfinity Series season (18 seasons), regardless of how many starts, but that is what he’ll need to do to retire after the 2021 season.
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With all things considered, the 2021 season could very well be his final season of competition in the Xfinity Series, even though the odds don’t necessarily favor it. However, if he hits 100 wins with one or two starts left on his schedule, don’t expect him to not compete in any remaining scheduled starts.