NASCAR champion Kyle Busch returns home mired in 29-race losing streak

LAS VEGAS — Kyle Busch is in a terrible slump, winless this Cup season, and his 15-year streak of at least one victory a year in danger.

The reigning Cup champion struggled to contain his frustration after finishing second last week at Bristol to title favorite Kevin Harvick, and his losing streak was extended to 29 races. Busch predicted his bid to win back-to-back titles soon will be over.

“We’ll be eliminated in the next round, so, don’t care,” Busch said after Harvick beat him at Bristol.

The second round of the playoffs begins Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in the city where Busch grew up and where he and his older brother, Kurt, are featured on the side of the MGM Grand casino. It should be the perfect spot for Busch to break his slump, but he was blunt when asked if the No. 18 team is close to competing with Harvick and the title front-runners.

“No,” was all Busch replied.

Las Vegas marks the first race in a three-race second round that goes from the 1.5-mile standard oval to high-banked Talladega Superspeedway and then eliminates four drivers from the playoffs at the hybrid “Roval” at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The diversity of tracks in the second round makes it the most challenging of the the playoffs’ three knockout rounds, and Las Vegas is critical because a strong finish can ease pressure the next two weeks. In a city of gamblers, the best strategy Sunday might be to play it safe.

That’s a difficult position for Busch, who feels intense pressure to run well at his home track. Las Vegas rarely has been good to him, though, and he has just one win in 18 career Cup starts.

Now his bid to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson to win consecutive championships is on the verge of collapse.

He ranks 10th out of 12 playoff drivers and is statistically on pace with his 2014 season, one of the worst of his career. Busch won just once that year and tied a career-low with nine top-five finishes. And, there are only seven races remaining to preserve his streak of at least one victory a season since his 2005 rookie year.

If he doesn’t make it through the second round, it will be the first time since that 2014 disappointment Busch won’t race in the championship finale.

In this season of coronavirus protocols, Busch has been hampered in making the adjustments needed to get a car into victory lane. He has struggled in traffic and been bogged down in single-file runs, unable to move forward.

Busch needs to be near the front to contend and gets his chance when the green flag flies at Las Vegas. Busch starts second alongside Harvick. He has seen Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. be successful when their Toyotas get prime starting positions and is hoping things finally fall his way.

“Our teammates have been starting up front, they’ve been running up front and they’ve been doing a good job of keeping themselves in the mix on the intermediate tracks,” Busch said. “If we can continue to evolve and get ourselves up a little bit higher, then, hopefully, that will bode well for us, too.”