● The Overton’s 301 will mark Busch’s 595th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start and his 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series start at New Hampshire.
● Busch has career total totals of 29 wins, 21 poles, 127 top-fives, 251 top-10s and 8,867 laps led in 594 starts.
► His most recent Cup Series win came 17 races ago in the Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (Feb. 26, 2017).
► His last Cup Series pole came 50 races ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway(March 4, 2016).
● Busch has three wins, two second-place finishes, seven top-threes, eight top-fives, 13 top-10s and has led a total of 541 laps in his 32 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire. His average start is 11.8, his average finish is 15.8 and his lap completion rate is 96 percent, completing 9,107 of the 9,487 laps available.
● Before Red Sox Swept Cardinals, Busch Swept New Hampshire – In 2004, the Boston Red Sox ended the Curse of the Bambino and won its first World Series since 1918 by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals. Well before this October Classic of All Classics, Busch swept the NASCAR Cup Series’ races at New Hampshire in 2004. He overcame a 32nd-place qualifying effort in July 2004 to lead twice for 110 laps en route to his first Cup Series win at New Hampshire. His second win came in September when he led three times for a race-high 155 laps. Busch went on to win the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series championship.
● When Busch won at New Hampshire in September 2004, he became the first driver to win a race in NASCAR’s playoffs. The victory placed Busch in a tie with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for first place in the championship standings.
● Busch is one of only two drivers to have swept the slate of NASCAR Cup Series races at New Hampshire. The other is Jimmie Johnson, who swept the pair of Cup Series races in 2003.
● Busch’s most recent win at New Hampshire came in July 2008 when he won the rain-shortened NASCAR Cup Series race. He only led 10 laps, but they were the final 10 of the 284-lap contest.
● Busch’s three NASCAR Cup Series wins at New Hampshire ties him for the most among active drivers, joining Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman.
● New Hampshire is one of 10 racetracks where Busch does not have a NASCAR Cup Series pole. He does, however, have two second-place starting positions (July 2007 and July 2013).
● Busch’s first career start at New Hampshire came on July 8, 2000 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was a fantastic first race as Busch qualified his Ford F-150 fifth and then led the final 35 laps en route to the win. It remains Busch’s only Truck Series start at New Hampshire
● So Far in 2017 – Busch has accumulated a win, two top-fives and eight top-10s in 18 NASCAR Cup Series starts.
● Get to the Points – With his 30th-place finish last Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Busch enters New Hampshire 15th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, 290 points behind new series leader Martin Truex Jr.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK |