Despite his win at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch didn’t hide away from Joe Gibbs Racing’s struggles this season.
Just a couple of weeks ago, much of the narrative around JGR was focused on their struggle in the 2022 Cup Series season. Denny Hamlin lifted the mood a bit in the team by winning at Richmond a few weeks ago. And now Busch has given them their second win of the season. The win was also Busch’s 60th win of his career and the 18th consecutive season where he has won at least one race, thus tying him with Richard Petty for that feat.
” I wish you would have won” – Chase Briscoe takes blame for Tyler Reddick not winning at Bristol
The win was a bit fortunate for Busch as the leader and the best driver for the most part of the race, Tyler Reddick, was taken out by Chase Briscoe in the final lap. While Busch was very proud of the win, he didn’t hesitate to comment about the struggles of the team this season.
“I don’t think the win here (Sunday) really says anything about our season,” Busch said. “We all have had some vocal meetings this year with some struggles and things like that.
“I would say realistically we’ve had a shot — take out the two speedway races, Atlanta and Daytona, there’s seven others. I’d say realistically we’ve had a shot to win two of those: Vegas and Richmond.
“It’s just not been our typical Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota having speed every week.”
The win is a big morale boost for JGR and the No. 18 team in particular. With HMS dominating much of last season and still continuing in fine form this season, JGR needs to step up their game to keep up with their elite rivals. Busch’s win will certainly lift off some pressure that was building in the team.