Auto Club Speedway is set to be converted to a short track; The final NASCAR Cup winner has memories from the California track
Last year, Kyle Busch signed a deal with Richard Childress Racing. He made the move to the Chevrolet backed team after 15 years with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Busch was in the battle in the opening pre-season race at the LA Coliseum. Last week, he was leading at the 500-mile mark of the Daytona 500 but crashed in overtime.
On Sunday, the 37-year-old drove to victory lane at Auto Club Speedway. He snapped a winless streak as he grabbed his 61st NASCAR Cup Series victory.
The win also passes a record set by Richard Petty. Petty won a race in 18 consecutive seasons. Busch just became the first to win in 19 consecutive NCS seasons.
Across Cup, Xfinity and Truck, Busch now has 225 victories. Yet, he previously had a goal of 300.
Busch stated, “I’m getting a little old, too fast, for 300. The aspirations were there, don’t get me wrong. But, the limitations set by NASCAR aren’t going to allow that to come to fruition. Only being able to run 5 Truck Series races, it’s going to be hard to get that total up, in a hurry.”
Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway was the last race on the 2-mile configuration. The track won’t be on the schedule in 2024 but when it returns in 2025, it will be a short track of some sort.
Kyle Busch won his first NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway. Now, he’s won the last on the 2-mile configuration.
Kyle Busch reflects on ‘false promises’ after leaving Joe Gibbs
Kyle Busch reflects on memories at Auto Club Speedway
“A lot,” Kyle Busch reflects on the memories from Auto Club Speedway after winning the final race on the 2-mile oval.
“The first one that comes to mind is when I was 16 years old. I came here to run in the Craftsman Truck Series.”
“I practiced and was fastest in practice. Had a really fast truck. Then, somebody decided I wasn’t old enough to race.”
“So, they kicked me out. That was my welcome to NASCAR moment and welcome to California Speedway moment.”
Later on, in his first Cup Series start, Kyle Busch put it on the pole position but he finished 25th. On his second trip, he qualified 25th but stormed through the field to win the race.
“That one was much better. My first Cup Series win was here. We’ve had 5 wins including today. Great time at California Speedway. There’s a few in there that I missed out on.”
There was snow at the track on Saturday. Despite that, Sunday’s race sold out.
“We need to be in Southern California. There was a really good turn out for as cold as it was.”
Busch added, “Just hope that the next track that we have puts on a show that we’ve been able to see here for the last 10 years. But, repaves are always tough. It takes a good five years for a repave to turn into something that’s decent.”
Auto Club Race Results: February 26, 2023 (NASCAR Cup Series)
