The NASCAR Hall of Fame honored three remarkable people this year, and Kurt Busch was one of them. Coming from a family of racers, his influential Cup Series saw 34 victories in over two decades, and the championship victory in 2004. He has also won some of the most iconic events on the calendar, including the one race that the younger Busch has never achieved.

This is exactly where he draws the line. On paper, Kyle seems to be the more successful one with more races and championship wins. He comes in a totally different league of drivers when it comes to his legacy. However, there is one aspect that still makes Kyle question it all in comparison to his brother’s.

The one milestone Kyle Busch is yet to conquer

Kyle has won almost twice as many races as his brother. However, there is one major event that every NASCAR driver aims to win, and in his 23 years of racing, Kyle has yet to win it too: the Daytona 500.

The season-opener is more than just a grand race. It carries the history of NASCAR’s roots in racing and is treated with just as much prestige as the sport itself. In fact, for many, NASCAR is synonymous with the Daytona race.

Kurt Busch did manage to win the race back in 2017 with Stewart-Haas Racing, and that is a major comparison that Kyle Busch drew while speaking of his brother’s induction into the HoF.

“I mean obviously it’s special. It’s amazing to have to see him be able to do that with the career that he had here in NASCAR, obviously starting out in Las Vegas and being a kid growing up racing Dwarf cars, Legends, and Late Models.

“Being able to have the career that he had with a bunch of wins. A Daytona 500, a Coke 600 win, an All-Star win, I mean, he checked all the boxes. I think except Brickyard. I’ve checked all the boxes except Daytona. You know what I mean?”

This makes Kyle question everything. On paper, he has more wins, two Cup titles, but the Daytona 500 is a race that truly defines legacies. A driver once might not want the title, but he’d want to be remembered for winning the Great American Race.

For Kyle, his resume may be statistically superior. But it is symbolically incomplete.

And it’s a strong comparison between the brothers. They started racing in the Cup Series at almost the same time, and for both of them, there is still one victory remaining. For Kurt, it’s the Brickyard. 

However, between the two, Kyle Busch still has the chance to fill those blank spots in his legacy, as he looks forward to a hopeful 2026 with new crew chief Jim Pohlman. But his brother Kurt was forced to retire from the sport after the 2022 season owing to his injuries, which left him with a permanent condition.

Yet, he had quite a career in racing and continues to be an influence on the upcoming generation.

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Kurt Busch comments on his NASCAR journey

The Busch family was not wealthy. It was their father, Tom Busch, who was largely interested in racing while working as a mechanic for Ford. After they moved to Las Vegas, both Kyle and Kurt raced Late Models, and their careers grew from there. Their father had to sell his 1932 Ford for $32,000 to get his elder son into racing. But that paid off.

Kurt Busch got his first chance in the Cup Series in 2000 with Roush Racing, which soon turned into a full-time seat. He won his first race at Bristol in 2002, piloting the #97 Ford, which seemed like a nice tribute to his father. He also raced for Penske, SHR, and CGR in his later years.

His final drive was with 23XI Racing, when Denny Hamlin was still handling the team’s basics, and he delivered a strong victory in Kansas, which turned out to be his last Cup Series win.

“It’s been an amazing journey,” Busch told the media ahead of his induction. “And all the trips down memory lane, talking with a crew chief, just asking them to help verify one of the stories, that way I can get it into the speech. And by the time you ask one question, it’s like an hour just went by with every one of them. And just all the different stats that the statistician guys were helping me put together, it’s like, wow. We really got a lot done with a lot of different teams.”

The Busch brothers accomplished everything in the sport, including championships. However, being the perfectionists they are, it is quite understandable that they still crave to win their respective races at Indianapolis and Daytona. That being said, will Kyle manage to put an end to that drought with a season-opening win in 2026?