Top 35 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: No. 13 - Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch finished 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings in 2009. // LaDon George, NASCAR Scene
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By most measures, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch had another stellar year in NASCAR, winning 20 races across three national series and collecting the Nationwide Series championship.
But despite winning four Sprint Cup races, his season could be considered a disappointment, because he missed the Chase For The Sprint Cup.
And as the dust settled on his season, Busch got a new crew chief in Dave Rogers, with Steve Addington eventually leaving to join Kyle’s brother, Kurt, at Penske Racing.
Busch, a 34-year-old native of Las Vegas, earned $6,184,752 in purses.
During the offseason, SceneDaily is taking a look at the top 35 in 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup driver points. Here’s how Busch’s season unfolded:
By the numbers: Busch had some gaudy statistics in Cup, Nationwide and the Camping World Truck Series. In 86 races, he had 20 victories, 45 top-five and 56 top-10 finishes. In Cup, he won four times, with nine top-fives and 13 top-10s.
Season highlights: Busch finished 41st in the Daytona 500 but still managed to win three of the season’s first 10 races. And after sweeping both Cup and Nationwide races at Richmond, Busch was fifth in Cup points. But that’s as high as he would be the remainder of the year.
Key setbacks: A fifth-place finish in Richmond in September wasn’t enough to get Busch into the 12-driver Chase field, but his problems started long before that race. He finished 13th or worse 10 times in a 13-race stretch in the middle of the season that all but killed his chances of making the Chase.
Newsworthy moment: After winning 12 races in less than two full seasons, Addington was removed as Busch’s crew chief. With three races remaining in 2009, Rogers was moved up from JGR’s successful Nationwide program to lead Busch’s No. 18 Cup entry.
In his words: “I’ve learned a lot, for sure. We’ve been really consistent [in the Nationwide Series], and it’s going to earn us a championship. We’re hoping, with Dave coming on board with our M&M’s Toyota, we can build toward being that consistent starting next year. Any championship in NASCAR is a big deal, and I’m proud of the effort by all the guys over there. I’ve had to learn to be a little more patient and take what the car will give me and not try to drive over my head if my car isn’t the best out there. I’ve tried to learn to take what you have – if it’s a 12th-place finish like we had at Phoenix– you take that, since it’s the best you had that day. That kind of stuff wins you championships and something that Jimmie [Johnson] and Chad [Knaus] have been able to do so well.”
