“I Don’t Know if I’ll Get There”: Kyle Busch Opens Up on Crossing Dale Earnhardt’s Iconic NASCAR Milestone

To say that Kyle Busch has been given a new lease of life at Richard Childress Racing won’t be an overstatement. The younger Busch already has three wins in the first 15 races and has his eyes fixed on a third Cup Series Championship. Coming into the season there was a lot of talk about how Busch, after all the speculations last season, will take to the new team, one where the legendary Dale Earnhardt won six out of his seven championships. Like Michael Jordan, Busch took those whispers personally, personally enough that now he is a frontrunner to win it all.

After the win in Illinois, Kyle Busch is on 63 career Cup Series wins, 13 short of Dale Earnhardt’s tally of 76 wins. Given how his stint at RCR has started, surpassing The Intimidator in this regard would certainly be something that has crossed Busch’s mind.

Kyle Busch on the prospect of passing Dale Earnhardt in the history books

During a media session at Sonoma, Busch was asked if he thought it was realistic for him to achieve this milestone. The Candy Man gave a measured response, saying, “I would have said — probably the 2015 to 2019 timeframe when I was winning five, six at a clip — that that’s definitely obtainable. And then we kind of slow down the last few years, and then I would have probably told you, ‘I don’t know if I’ll get there.”

The last few years at Joe Gibbs Racing were a struggle for Busch and the records prove that. From 2015 to 2019, Kyle Busch made the Championship 4 every season, winning 27 races during that time en route to two Cup Series titles. The next three years were disappointing though, with The Candy Man reaching Victory Lane only four times and not making the final four at all. Clearly, something was amiss.

Kyle Busch remains optimistic after a positive start to the season

Busch also highlighted how the impressive start at RCR gives him cause for optimism to take him over the 76 wins. The two-time champion added, “And then this year, we’ve got three, and I feel like there’s plenty more. So hopefully we can continue to showcase that at RCR with the 8 car and go out there and win some more. I think anything’s possible. I think it would be more fair to talk about, I guess, once I at least hit 70. Right? Which that could probably happen by the end of next year, so hopefully it does.”

At the rate he is going, it remains only a matter of when and not if Busch passes Dale Sr on the all-time career wins list. But knowing Kyle Busch, this is the second thing on the list of his priorities; the first will always be winning the elusive third championship.