NASCAR’s ‘Rowdy’, Kyle Busch, is looking to shed his villain label and rewrite his Vegas narrative this weekend. Fresh off a historic, yet frustrating, third-place finish in Atlanta, Busch is gearing up for his home track at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with one goal in mind, victory. Despite leading the points standings and boasting a strong Vegas record, Busch is haunted by a string of recent near-misses. Can he overcome this “third-place curse” and finally claim the checkered flag?

Can “P**ed Off” Kyle Busch Break the Third-Place Curse at his Hometown Track?

Rowdy comes home with a chip on his shoulder and a desire to rewrite his recent narrative. While he boasts an impressive average finish of 5.0 at Vegas in the past six races, a coveted win in his hometown circuit has remained elusive since the Shelby 427 in 2009. Moreover, he has finished P3 in the last two fall races at LVMS, as well as the 2021 edition of the Pennzoil 400.

Kyle Busch Reveals His Frustration and Constant Disappointment on Lack of a Home Ground Win

The number 3 seems to be haunting the 2-time champion roaring into Sunday’s race as his recent string of close calls culminated in a dramatic, picture-perfect third-place finish again at the Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. The race, dubbed the third-closest finish in NASCAR history, left Busch both exhilarated and frustrated.

“I think I was too pissed off to be exhausted,” Busch admitted in a pre-race interview, reflecting on the Atlanta race. “Being that close to winning a cup race is certainly one for the books, but also just you know, bit frustrated obviously just not being able to execute everything I needed to do, and I thought about doing“

While acknowledging the historical significance of the finish and the positive media attention it garnered, Busch said, “It stings to be third, much rather be the guy on top being able to take home a trophy,” he said. “Looking back on it seeing it as a finish and the attention that it got, some of the media stuff that I did during the week, you know, was really cool to get some notoriety… and get some for our sponsors as well as our sport.”

Rowdy Adapts to a 40-Year Championship Dream

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Despite the bittersweet Atlanta finish, Busch remains optimistic. He enters the second full-time season under the banner of Richard Childress Racing, where he’s found renewed energy at 38 years of age. Rowdy also carries the hopes of ending the championship win drought for the team.

To help his cause, after two back-to-back superspeedway races into the 2024 Cup Series, the Nevada native has already secured the top spot in the driver points standings. A position he hasn’t held since his championship-winning season in 2019. The driver of the #8 Chevrolet aims to maintain his one-point lead over Daytona winner William Byron by setting the tone for a lengthy season with a strong performance at Las Vegas.

Talking about his run so far, Rowdy contrasted the thrilling action at Atlanta with the fuel-saving tactics that dominated the Daytona race, saying, “I don’t think you really saw much lollygagging like we did at Daytona, you know, a lot of part throttle, saving fuel, all that sort of stuff“. He concluded with a resounding remark, “So, we didn’t get a chance to see some of that at Atlanta… There were some crashes, some single-car stuff, couple-car stuff. Obviously, the first lap that was, if that didn’t happen, I think it would have had everything that a race would need.”

The upcoming Las Vegas race, with its 1.5-mile tri-oval layout, offers a different challenge compared to the high-speed drafting styles of Daytona and the short bursts of aggression seen at Atlanta. It will be interesting to see how Kyle Busch adapts his driving style to Las Vegas and whether he can finally break free from the “third-place curse” with some home advantage.

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