Stop with the comparisons, Kyle Busch wants to celebrate the accomplishment

PHOENIX—Two hundred feature wins in NASCAR. Sounds impossible, right? 

 

After Richard Petty hit that magic mark at Daytona in 1984, pundits predicted that number would never be matched. And purists insist only victories in what is now the Monster Energy Cup Series qualify.

 

But Kyle Busch is closing in on 200. There’s no denying it. On Saturday, he scored his 198th victory with his Phoenix win, his second in as many races on that tour and his 94th overall. Busch passed Mark Martin for most wins on what is now the NASCAR Xfinity tour with his 50th victory at Bristol in 2011.  

 

Although it took him a bit longer to reach Ron Hornaday Jr.’s record of 51 truck wins, particularly after NASCAR changed the eligibility rules for the Playoffs, Busch surpassed the Hall of Famer and four-time champion with his Daytona victory last month. The following week at Atlanta he extended his truck total to 53.

 

Certainly, Busch could achieve No. 199 at ISM Raceway. That would be his 52nd career Cup win. Among current drivers, only Jimmie Johnson has more wins with 83. Busch won his second Cup race here last fall. 

 

He’ll start fourth on Sunday.

 

“I think it’s a pretty cool accomplishment,” Busch said. “There are so many different ways you can argue it or debate it or whatever and it has nothing to do with Richard (Petty), it’s just solely a number. I think it’s an accomplishment of its own. With Richard’s accomplishment and what he’s been able to do and what he’s done for the sport, that’s huge. 

 

“I feel as though I’ve been in this position to win as many races as I have due to a lot of great people and being able to go out there and celebrate 200 wins, I don’t know that it will happen again, but if it does, that person should certainly cherish that moment. I hate that you get beat up so much about an accomplishment, but I guess that’s part of life. Haters gonna hate.”

 

No matter what the critics say, Busch will relish the milestone when it happens. He’s not going to debate the era the King set the bar in NASCAR. He’ll let others squabble over the caliber of the competition, the number of races that were run or the wide variety of car counts. 

 

“It’s not my job to compare or tell you whether or not what I did was harder or easier, that’s not my job,” Busch said. “There are other people out there that can argue that fact that have seen Richard Petty race races back at the Fairgrounds when he ran 50-lappers and it was a Cup race. There were 16 cars in the field. It’s not for me to argue, I don’t care. 

 

“Again, what I said from the beginning of all this is it’s not a comparison to Richard Petty’s 200 wins, it is not. It is my own and an accomplishment for myself that should stand alone separate from Richard. Hell, I could say right now that I’m the winningest driver on pavement in NASCAR ever in the top-three series because Richard doesn’t have 200 pavement wins, right. So booyah, again self-promotion.”

 

Busch won’t make an early call as to when he might complete the task. At 33, as long as Busch remains healthy, he has plenty of time. He has won at every track on the circuit with the exception of the Charlotte Roval which debuted last September.

 

“It would certainly be nice to get it done on the West Coast swing, but it’s not a necessity,” Busch said. “It will happen when it happens and you can’t push too hard and do stupid things or make mistakes in order to think too much about that number. You just have to let the race kind of play out and let it come to you.”