This weekend could provide a showdown of sorts within the Busch family as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads into the family’s home base of Las Vegas for Sunday’s Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Busch brothers Kurt and Kyle each look to reign supreme at the home track, and each has a legitimate shot of making it happen.
Kyle comes into Sunday’s event as the reigning race winner, his one and only victory at LVMS. He also has three top-five and four top-10 Las Vegas finishes to his credit.
“It was awesome, just the feeling of a lifetime,” Kyle said of his win a year ago. “I told everyone that it would be just like another race, but it really meant a lot more than that when I got to victory lane.”
Older brother Kurt, on the other hand, has yet to visit the LVMS victory lane following a Sprint Cup event. His Vegas stats aren’t quite as impressive as his brother’s. Kurt only has one top-five and two top-10s in nine previous starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“I’ve always dreamed about winning the race there at our home track, and we had a strong car there last year until we had the engine problem,” Kurt said.
One ace up his sleeve that Kurt hopes will finally get him to the LVMS victory lane—crew chief Steve Addington. Addington basically changed Busch brothers during the offseason, leaving Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 18 team that Kyle drives for to head for Penske Racing to sit atop Kurt’s No. 2 pit box. Addington’s already put one Busch in victory lane. This time around, he’s hoping to help the other one get there.
“I know just how much last year’s win meant to Kyle, and it was a thrill to be part of such a huge hometown win like that,” Addington said. “We’re on a mission to get Kurt a big winner’s trophy of his own in Vegas this weekend.”
Sunday’s Shelby American can be seen live on FOX. Coverage is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET.
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