NASCAR: Kyle Busch ended a bizarre streak that lasted way too long

In addition to tying a major Richard Petty record, Kyle Busch ended a bizarre NASCAR Cup Series streak that went back nine months.

By leading only the 250th and final lap in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway thanks to a last-turn collision involving leaders Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch tied Richard Petty atop the consecutive winning seasons list.

Busch has now won at least one race in each of the last 18 seasons, matching the mark Petty set from 1960 to 1977.

While that streak has come close to ending on numerous occasions, most notably the 2020 season when it took him until the 34th of 36 races to find victory lane, he has managed to keep the streak alive and make history, joining the seven-time champion.

But another thing the two-time champion did on Sunday was arguably more bizarre.

Not since last July had a full-time driver in his 30s won a Cup Series race. In fact, had the race lasted into Monday morning, the 36-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native would have ended a drought of exactly nine months.

It was on Sunday, July 18, 2021, when Aric Almirola, then 37, scored an upset win for Stewart-Haas Racing to lock himself into the playoffs.

Between his win and Busch’s, 22 races were contested and won by drivers other than full-time drivers in their 30s.

Following a three-week hiatus due to the Summer Olympics, 29-year-old Kyle Larson won the next race at Watkins Glen International. A.J. Allmendinger was 39 years old when he won the following race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but he was not a full-time driver.

The regular season’s final two races at Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway were won by a 27-year-old Ryan Blaney.

Denny Hamlin, then 40, opened up the playoffs with a win at Darlington Raceway. Fellow quadragenarian Martin Truex Jr., 41, then won at Richmond Raceway before Larson won at Bristol Motor Speedway. Hamlin then won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Bubba Wallace, then 27, scored his first career win in a rain-shortened race at Talladega Superspeedway, beginning a record-breaking streak of 12 straight wins by drivers under the age of 30.

Larson won the next three races at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Texas Motor Speedway, and Kansas Speedway before Alex Bowman, 28, won at Martinsville Speedway. Larson then secured the championship with a win at Phoenix Raceway.

A 23-year-old Austin Cindric opened up the 2022 season with a Daytona 500 win, his first career win, at Daytona International Speedway before Larson won at Auto Club Speedway and Bowman won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Joining the first-time winners’ club at Phoenix Raceway was 27-year-old Chase Briscoe. The following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, 24-year-old William Byron found victory lane. Then 29-year-old Ross Chastain joined Cindric and Briscoe on the 2022 first-time winners’ list at Circuit of the Americas.

Hamlin then won at Richmond Raceway, and Byron became the 2022 season’s first repeat winner by winning at Martinsville Speedway.

Then finally, Busch scored one for the tricenarian full-timers, albeit by leading only one lap. He hadn’t won a race since last June when he won at Pocono Raceway.