Kyle Busch enfin de retour lors de la Sprint All Star Race!
Kyle Busch est enfin de retour, après une double fracture jambe/pied contracté en début de saison à Daytona en Xfinity Series.
En 2007, alors qu'il pilotait chez Hendrick Motorsports, il a remporté la première course disputée avec le modèle COT (Car of Tomorrow), et en mars 2008, il offre la première victoire à Toyota en Sprint Cup. Son grand frère, Kurt Busch (qui pilote la Chevrolet Impala n°78 au sein de la Furniture Row Racing), est également un des principaux concurrents de la Sprint Cup.
Le 21 août 2010, Kyle Busch devient le premier pilote de l'histoire de la NASCAR à gagner dans la même semaine, les trois courses des trois principales divisions (Sprint, Nationwide et Truck) de la NASCAR sur l'ovale de Bristol...
A la suite de semaines entières passées à se rééduquer, se remuscler, et avoir tenté en Late Models Series un essai, Kyle Busch revient donc à la compétition à Charlotte. Un des meilleurs pilotes de NASCAR du moment manquait à l'appel, voilà chose réparée.
We will with you, Kyle!!
Following two surgeries and extensive physical therapy since the accident, Busch met media for the first time on April 15 and broke down the crash into the Turn 1 infield wall at Daytona in a 55-minute session.
"You can't allow yourself to overspeed your return, just based off the fact of knowing that I've got a long career ahead of me, and there's no sense in trying to rush it," Busch said that day. "But we'll be smart about it when we're able to come back."
Busch's return comes at a time of major life change, as he and his wife, Samantha, await the birth of their first child in mid-May. The couple announced the impending addition to their family last October, then indicated in late November that they were expecting a boy.
NASCAR competition officials did not immediately comment on whether they'd issue a special waiver to Busch for eligibility into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs this season. If an exception to the rule requiring that a driver must qualify for all 26 regular-season races is granted, Busch would have to win in the 15 races that remain before the Chase field is determined, plus accumulate enough points to claim a spot among the top 30 in the Sprint Cup standings.
The largest amount of points a driver can gain in a Sprint Cup event is 48. Tony Stewart, the driver currently in 30th place in the standings, has 179 points through 11 races -- an average of 16.27 points earned per race. If that pace continues, the 30th-place driver would have 423 points at the end of the regular season.
To reach that level, Busch would have to average 28.2 points per race -- just better than 16th place, without bonus points for leading a lap -- for the remaining 15 regular-season races. A max-points victory during that span would mean Busch would only have to finish 17th or better in the other 14 events.
Busch has participated in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race -- which does not count toward the points standings -- every year since 2006, his second season in NASCAR's premier series. He's started from the pole position three times and has led laps in double-digit totals every year -- a span covering the last nine All-Star events -- but is still looking for his first All-Star victory.
Three interim drivers have substituted for Busch in the No. 18 since his crash in the XFINITY Series opener. Of those three, two drivers made their Sprint Cup Series debut in the process.
Matt Crafton, winner of the last two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championships, was an emergency fill-in for JGR in the season-opening Daytona 500, finishing 18th in his first premier-series start.
After Daytona, David Ragan shifted from his regular ride with Front Row Motorsports to wheel the No. 18 for the next nine races. His best finish was a fifth-place effort in March atMartinsville Speedway.
JGR development driver Erik Jones, 18, made his Sprint Cup debut at Kansas Speedway last weekend in the No. 18 Toyota. His impressive run into the top 10 ended with a Lap 196 crash, leaving the teenager with a 40th-place result.