Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch is currently on the hunt in his 20th full-time Cup Series season. Making his debut in 2005, he has won various honors in his journey, including two championships. A statistic that portrays the profound consistency that he has managed to put up in the top tier of NASCAR is that he has now led at least 100 laps in each of the last 20 seasons.
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This achievement might come off as ordinary until the list of drivers who’ve done it is brought up. Busch is only the ninth driver in history to touch this mark. Above and alongside him are gods of the sport such as Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Bobby Allison. The King, Petty, leads the category with a 27 season streak of leading at least 100 laps. Next to him is Kevin Harvick (23 seasons).
Bobby Allison and Jeff Gordon shoulder Harvick with an equal number. Dale Earnhardt follows closely with a 22 season record. Darrell Waltrip, David Pearson, Rusty Wallace, and the newcomer, Busch, round off the nine-name list (20 seasons). Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin is on the verge of being the 10th name on the list currently in his 19th season with at least 100 leading laps.
Kyle Busch breaks past Kevin Harvick in yet another display of consistency
The Dover race last Sunday proved to be one where Busch broke more than one wall. Through the 34 laps that led, he became the driver to run the most laps inside the top-15 since the introduction of NASCAR’s Loop Data in 2005. With 142,192 laps, he overtook Harvick who’d posted 142,040 laps. Notably, Denny Hamlin trails the duo in this category, again, with 136,537 laps.
Busch has now led 101 laps in the 2024 season. While he hasn’t secured a victory yet and affirmed his spot in the playoffs, he looks poised to do so. The fourth place finish he secured in Dover was a showcase of the positive momentum that he has been gaining. His upcoming challenge will be at Kansas. Off late, he has managed more good results than bad ones on the intermediate.
Undergoing what was nothing short of a roller coaster ride in the first 11 races of the season, he will want to find some balance and follow through on the top-5 Dover result. With 5 top-10 finishes and 1 win in Kansas over the last 10 appearances, he certainly can dream of doing so.
