Things haven’t been going well this year for Kyle Busch.
Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, the 2015 Cup champion is winless through 19 Cup races. But it’s been a year since he last won at all, in the Brickyard 400.
It’s not for a lack of speed and competition. Busch is third in the points and he’s led the second most laps at 953.
But the combination of a lack of winning and an abundance of laps led mean Busch’s name has wound up on a list.
Heading into a race he’s won two years in a row, Busch has the second most laps led all-time in a season without a win.
He’s 216 laps behind Harry Gant’s 1981 record. Gant led 1,169 laps that year and never scored a win despite earning 13 top fives, including seven runner-up finishes. He wouldn’t earn his first Cup win until April 1982 at Martinsville.
Busch has seven top fives through 19 of 36 races. Two are runner-up finishes.
Joining Busch and Gant among the all-time leaders in laps led without wins in a season are Jeff Gordon, Dick Hutcherson and Neil Bonnett.
- Harry Gant, 1,169 laps led - 1981
- Kyle Busch, 953 laps led - 2017
- Jeff Gordon, 919 laps led - 2010
- Dick Hutcherson, 821 laps led; First win at Smoky Mountain Raceway in Maryville, Tennessee, on July 27, 1967
- Neil Bonnett, 813 laps led; First win in Southern 500 on Set. 7, 1981