NASCAR: When will Kyle Busch make his next start?

Kyle Busch opened up his five-race 2022 NASCAR Truck Series schedule at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a second place finish. When will he be back?

After initially being scored in third place, Kyle Busch Motorsports team owner Kyle Busch was credited with a runner-up result in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200, back in early March.

Busch was scored behind only one of his own drivers, race winner Chandler Smith, after original second place finisher Zane Smith was disqualified due to the fact that his #38 Ford failed post-race inspection with a lug nut issue. Front Row Motorsports’ appeal was rejected, leaving Smith in 36th (last).

Busch’s start in this 134-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval was his first start of the 2022 Truck Series season.

As a full-time Cup Series driver with more than five seasons of experience, Busch is only allowed to compete in up to five Truck Series races per season.

Entering the week of the Las Vegas race, the 36-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native’s only confirmed start of the 2022 season was this start at his home track.

However, that changed just days before he took the green flag for the first time since his runner-up finish at Pocono Raceway last June.

His next start is slated to come at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, March 26.

After that, he is set to compete at Martinsville Speedway on Thursday, April 7. He is then set to compete at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 27 before wrapping up his five-race schedule at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 11.

Busch is currently riding an eight-race streak of top two finishes in the Truck Series, a streak which includes four wins and four runner-up finishes.

All four of his runner-up finishes have come behind one of his own trucks, as he finished behind John Hunter Nemechek in all three of his second place efforts last year. He hasn’t finished behind a non-Kyle Busch Motorsports truck since he finished in 21st at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June 2020.

Notably, for the first time since 2002, Busch is not set to compete in any Xfinity Series races this year, meaning that his four remaining scheduled Truck Series starts are his only remaining starts in NASCAR’s two lower national series in 2022.