2024 was a terrible year for Kyle Busch. He failed to reach victory lane and finished 20th in the driver standings. As things stand, his future in the Cup Series appears bleak with age catching up to him and Richard Childress Racing’s racing prowess waning in recent years. However, he can still stage a comeback that was previously seen only during the time of Dale Earnhardt.
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Following his victory at Atlanta in 1996, Earnhardt went on a winless streak of 59 races. His next win came at the 1998 Daytona 500, a fixture that he was conquering for the first time.
Fans believe that Busch can repeat history considering that he has never won the Daytona 500 either. His last win was at Watkins Glen in 2023 and his winless streak is 57 races currently.
Busch has won every race there is to win. He has a Southern 500, two Brickyard 400s, and a Coca-Cola 600 in his bag. But the Daytona 500 has always eluded him. His best finish was finishing runner-up in 2019 behind Denny Hamlin.
He spoke about what it would mean if he had to retire from racing without capturing the victory flag in the Great American Race earlier this year.
He mentioned how he was in good company among the likes of Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, and Tony Stewart not winning the race.
He said, “There are some greats in the Hall of Fame that never won the race. Not saying they never not wanted to win the race. They just never got one. I don’t want to be that guy, but if I am that guy I still got some pretty good company.”
What it meant for Dale Earnhardt to win the 1998 Daytona 500
Regardless of how easy he appears to take it on the outside, Busch must be burning to win the Daytona 500. He is one of the most competitive drivers on the field at the end of the day. One only has to look at Earnhardt’s celebrations after the 1998 Daytona 500 victory to see what such success would mean for a driver.
The Intimidator celebrated with his fans before walking up to the speedway’s press box. He took a stuffed monkey off his shoulder and joked to the cameras, “Finally got that monkey off my back!” It was the happiest people had seen him in a long time. The crews of nearly every team were standing on the pit road applauding him.
Team owner Richard Childress said, “I don’t think he ever believed he’d never win the 500. He’d won enough other races down here to know he could win the 500, but there was always something that got in his way.”
Fortunately, nothing came his way that year. Busch will be dreaming of recreating these scenes when the Cup Series resumes in February.
