According to Kyle Busch, “Everybody wants to make my life more difficult.”
Busch, who won last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 and starts today’s race in fifth, is the first driver in Cup history to win on every active track he’s raced.
That accomplishment will be in the record books for about four months. Then the Cup Series will compete on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval for the first time on Sept. 30, presenting yet another box for Busch to check off his wish list.
“I’m sure that I won’t be credited for all the racetracks once the Roval gets here, so that would certainly be the next one that comes up,” Busch said Friday at Pocono Raceway. “Richard Petty has won 13 races at Richmond, right, but nobody characterizes the dirt track versus the pavement track being different. So whatever. It’s my life, so we’ll just keep going, keep trying to win in it, and the Roval is next.”
MORE: Kyle Busch doesn’t need to win on Roval to win at every track
No matter how long it takes him to win on the Roval, Busch says his current accomplishment is still special.
“It’s hard to find things that have never been done in this sport,” Busch said. “It’s been around for a long, long time. So it’s very meaningful and special and something that I’ve kind of strived for. Whenever you’re able to achieve your goals, reach your goals, then it makes you feel better about what’s going on, and it’s a special thing for my team. There’s a lot that (crew chief) Adam Stevens puts into helping me continue to reach my goals, and he takes a lot of pride in that, as well as the rest of our team guys, as well. We’ve just got to keep doing our deal and executing and we’ll see where the wins come next.”
After the Roval, there’s one big race Busch has yet to claim victory in.
Despite 47 Cup wins, he’s never won the Daytona 500. His best result in the “Great American Race” is third in 2016.
He’s expected to make his 14th start in the race next season.
“It took another guy that’s very, very popular 20 years to get it done,” Busch said, referring to Dale Earnhardt’s win in 1998. “So I’d like to think it won’t take me that long, although I’m creeping up on that number, so we’ll see how soon we can get that one accomplished.”