Sunday night, Kyle Busch led 377 of 400 laps in the Coca-Cola 600 and did something no other driver has ever done. He completed a sweep of victory lane at every track on which he has ever competed at the Cup level.
“This one’s very special,” Busch said from victory lane. “I don’t think there’s anything that can top Homestead (in 2015), just with the meaning of what the championship is, but the Coca-Cola 600 – I’ve dreamt of this race since I was a kid and being able to win this race.”
Busch’s Coke 600 win was the 47th time he won at NASCAR’s top level. Remarkably, those 47 wins have come on 23 different tracks, which makes him one of the most versatile drivers in NASCAR history.
The journey began at Auto Club Speedway in fall 2005 during his first full year at the Cup level, racing for Hendrick Motorsports.
With Hendrick, Busch was able to win only four times in three fulltime seasons together on four different tracks.
One of these came at Bristol Motor Speedway, which became his most productive track with seven wins. The latest of these came in this year’s Food City 500.
Busch’s second-most productive track is Richmond Raceway with five wins. Add a pair of wins at Martinsville Speedway, and Busch has 14 short track wins.
Otherwise, he has not scored more than three victories on a single course.
Busch has never suffered through a winless season, although he posted only single victories in 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014.
His most productive season was 2008 when he won eight times, but finished only ninth in the standings.
Busch has a single victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but counts it among his greatest achievements because it brought with it the 2015 Cup championship.
“I don’t want to go to any new ones,” Busch said. “That would just have to start the whole process over.”
Unfortunately, he is going to have to tackle a new course this year when NASCAR returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway to visit the Roval, but he has an opportunity to win out of the gate. Four of his 47 wins have come on road courses with two at Sonoma Raceway and a pair at Watkins Glen International.
Here are how the wins break down:
Bristol Motor Speedway: 7
Richmond Raceway: 5
Martinsville Speedway: 2
14 total short track wins
Texas Motor Speedway: 3
Atlanta Motor Speedway: 2
Kentucky Speedway: 2
Charlotte Motor Speedway: 1
Chicagoland Speedway: 1
Homestead-Miami Speedway: 1
Kansas Speedway: 1
Las Vegas Speedway: 1
12 1.5-mile wins
Dover International Speedway: 3
New Hampshire International Speedway: 3
Phoenix International Raceway: 1
7 one-mile track wins
Auto Club Speedway: 3
Michigan International Speedway: 1
4 two-mile track wins
Sonoma Raceway: 2
Watkins Glen International: 2
4 road course wins
Daytona International Speedway: 1
Talladega Superspeedway: 1
2 restrictor plate superspeedway wins
Indianapolis Motor Speedway: 2
Pocono Raceway: 1
Darlington Raceway: 1