Kyle Busch off to a great start

Kyle Busch, the man they call “Shrub,” is off to a whirlwind season, already scoring two victories in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, two wins in the NASCAR Camping World Series, a win in the Nationwide Series and a win in the qualifying race for the 2009 Daytona 500.

What more could anyone ask for? Well, if you are Busch, then you just want to go out and get more wins. Last year, Busch had 21 wins across all three of NASCAR’s top touring series. This year he has already hit the 25-percent mark and is running for a championship in both the Nationwide and the Sprint Cup series.

So, what motivates Busch? Apparently not souvenir sales, as was made evident following his dominating victory this past weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“If there’s a car in front of me, I’m going to chase him. You know, I want to pass that guy,” Busch said. “If I’m the leader, there’s another car in front of me, he’s going a lap down. The more guys you get a lap down, the more you don’t have to deal with at the end of the day. There’s always some motivation to go forward. There’s always somebody ahead of you that you can pass that’s going to mean something. Even if you are the leader.

“The only time that that doesn’t mean anything is when you come down to the last two races or even the last race of the year, if you’re the championship contender, and you don’t need to finish but 32nd, then don’t worry about anything. But until you’re in that position — you’re feeding off everybody in front of you.”

Heading into Martinsville Speedway this weekend, Busch is hopeful that he can continue to get the job done. He admits that Martinsville is not his best track but according to others in the garage, he is still a favorite, along with Jeff Gordon.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” he said. “I’m proud of that. Hopefully I can carry that into Martinsville. I suck there, so it’s gonna be hard to do, but we’ll see what we can figure out. The best finish I think I’ve had there is a fourth in Cup and a third in Trucks or something like that, or a fourth in Trucks, too. I’ve got two chances next weekend. Hopefully we can get one of ’em. If not, then we just have to start another streak.”

Jerry Jordan can be reached at (409) 832-1400, ext. 225, or at jerry@theexaminer.com.