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Younger brother Busch needs consistency
2006 Rewind
2006 was the proverbial tale of two seasons for little brother Busch, who improved on a solid Rookie of the Year season by leaping from 20th to 10th in points. He led five laps in the Daytona 500 and posted five top 10 finishes over the season's first seven races, setting the tone for a summer that would bring a victory at New Hampshire in July and a rise to fourth in points, which is where he began The Chase for the Nextel Cup.
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That's when the postseason arrived. Busch promptly plowed the wall during the second New Hampshire event and fell out of title contention before The Chase had barely begun. But the 21-year old wisely recognized that his shot at the Cup was over and shifted his team into pre-2007 mode as early as possible.
In the middle of it all were a couple of run-ins with fellow short fuse Tony Stewart and a public explosion at Lowe's that ended with him flinging his HANS device at now-teammate Casey Mears. Each outburst completely knocked the kid they call Shrub out of the steady mindset that a team needs to see from its driver when times get tough.
Why He Will Finish 11th
Because of what we just told you. As hard as Kyle works to separate himself from older brother Kurt, there's just enough of the same explosive temper to keep him from stepping up to the next level. Still the youngest driver in the Nextel Cup paddock, Kyle's talent is unquestioned, but he continues to makes the classic youngster mistake of overdriving his car when he doesn't need to. Larry McReynolds says it all the time — don't give me 110 percent when 90 percent will do.
How did Busch get past his spat with Stewart last season? Because the grown ups around him — boss Rick Hendrick, in particular — pulled him aside and reminded him to focus on racing and not get sucked into all the emotional BS out on the periphery.
If Hendrick and crew chief/buddy Alan Gustafson can keep Busch's emotions in check, there's no limit to what the kid can do. Veteran Jimmy Fennig took that approach with Kurt at Roush Racing and the result was a Nextel Cup title.
The All-Telling, All-Knowing Stat: 22.7
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That was Busch's average finish over the 10 races of The Chase, the worst among the title contenders. Solid finishes during the middle stages of NASCAR's postseason — top 11s at Kansas, Talladega, Lowe's, and Texas — were bogged down by the bookends. He started The Chase with finishes of 38th and 40th at Loudon and Dover then ended it with a pair of 38's at Phoenix and Homestead.
Fantasy Lock: Richmond
He hasn't won there yet, but his 3.8 average finish and four top 10s are personal bests of his still-young career. Last year he finished 5th and 2nd in two Virginia visits, leading 248 of 400 laps in September before finishing runner-up to fellow Chaser Kevin Harvick. Clearly he has mastered NASCAR's flat tracks, proven by wins at New Hampshire and Phoenix.
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