Opinion: Bristol Night Race win says much about SHR, Kurt Busch
If I told you a Busch won Saturday’s annual Bass Pro Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway you’d probably guess it was Kyle.









And that’s not a bad guess because the youngest Busch brother had seven career wins at Bristol as he headed into the 500-lap race on one of NASCAR’s most popular tracks.
However, he still had seven after the completion of the Monster Energy Cup Series race.
If I told you the race was won by a driver out of the Stewart-Haas Racing stable, you’d probably guess Kevin Harvick and again, that would be a mighty fine guess. Harvick had already won seven times this season when the green flag dropped at BMS.
He still had seven wins several hours later when the checkered flag appeared.
Nope, the 40th annual running of the night race saw Kyle Busch wreck early, somehow manage to come back and contend, then cut a tire after contact late in the race. Fans along the fence in Turn 4 jeered the 2015 champ as his car sat disabled on the apron of the track.
Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, has six wins this season, a spot in the playoffs and the points lead. Let ‘em jeer all they want.
Harvick, on the other hand, contended early until an issue forced him to pit road under green and he went two laps down. He spent the bulk of the series’ 24th race working his way back onto the lead lap.
If anyone jeered him, it went unnoticed. Like Busch, he’s playoff bound and among the few favorites expected to compete for the title in Homestead, Fla., later this fall.
The race winner was a Busch and came out of the SHR camp and it was Kurt Busch, and that just goes to show you how crazy and unpredictable NASCAR can be.
Not that Kurt Busch wasn’t a deserving winner. The only thing the 40-year-old seemingly did wrong all night, besides not comb his hair or don a cap after the fact, was leave his helmet and gloves on the roof of his race car when he climbed out to grab the checkered flag and do a quick on-track interview.
Busch was fourth in points heading into the race and fourth when it ended but more importantly he was a winner for the first time this season and like his teammate Harvick, guaranteed a spot in the 16-team playoffs that begin next month.
His last win came early last year. In the season-opening Daytona 500. That’s 58 races. In the meantime, 18 others have visited victory lane.
The win says plenty about SHR – the organization has put three drivers in the winner’s circle this year with Harvick, Clint Bowyer and now Busch. A fourth teammate, Aric Almirola, has run well enough to win. When and if he does, no one should be surprised.
The win also says a lot about Busch, who has suddenly found himself back in the spotlight now that reports of a potential departure from SHR at season’s end have surfaced.
Drivers and teams don’t normally shine when their future is being questioned and what they might or might not be doing next season suddenly starts to overshadow what they are trying to accomplish in the here and now.
But Busch and crew chief Billy Scott and the No. 41 team put all that aside and overcame an early-race crash (cosmetic damage only) and late-race restarts and when the checkered flag flew it was the No. 41 first across the line.
“Winning is great, any time, no matter how long there was in between,” Busch said afterward. “The motivation is always there. …
“For me, you never waiver, you keep focused. The timing was perfect with our team gelling, this Bristol night race (on tap), go after it.”
As for the reports …
“You just stay … laser focused on the task," he said.
Good advice anytime. Great advice Saturday night.

Kyle Busch: “It just wasn’t meant for us this weekend”
Bowyer and Elliott lament missed opportunity at Bristol

Latest news
Farfus says BMW could have reliability edge over LMDh rivals
Augusto Farfus has dismissed concerns about BMW's apparent lack of pace in the build-up to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and feels the German manufacturer could have an edge when it comes reliability.
How Formula E's new emergency braking system will work
Formula E has introduced an emergency braking kit for the Diriyah E-Prix as a failsafe should the rear powertrain stop working over the course of a race weekend.
Maserati MSG not yet "consistently fast" with Gen3 FE car – Mortara
Edoardo Mortara says the Maserati MSG outfit still has to understand how to be "consistently fast" with the Gen3 Formula E car following a difficult Mexico City E-Prix.
Ford: F1’s boom means it "requires consideration"
Ford’s motorsport boss says it would be remiss of the American car giant not to be considering a Formula 1 return amid the sport’s rapid growth in the United States.
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
Saddled with uncompetitive Minardi machinery, Tarso Marques didn't manage to score points in his three partial seasons of Formula 1. But now the Brazilian has the chance to show what he can do in NASCAR, and explains the story of his comeback with new Cup Series entrant Team Stange
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
NASCAR’s new stock car generation is encouraging an influx of fresh blood into its top tier. But there are concerns that parts are in short supply as the entire paddock tries to build up stocks at the same time
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
After holding his nerve and hip-checking his teammate on the run to the line, Austin Cindric made a perfect start to life as a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning the Daytona 500. Here's how the Penske Ford man emerged first across the line in the first points-scoring race for the much-anticipated Next Generation cars
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
There are plenty of uncertainties ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season as an all-new fleet of cars take to the track for the first time. Ahead of this weekend's Daytona 500, our experts explain what you need to know
How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of Next Gen arrival
The NASCAR Cup kicks off with the Daytona 500 this weekend, but a major engine overhaul and a subsequent mountain of work has been required to be ready for the arrival of the Next Gen cars.
How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory
From villain to hero, Kyle Larson had to reach his lifelong goal the hard way and go through a very public shaming after a ban for using a racial slur, but his talents shone long before his name grabbed the headlines...
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
It’s not just Formula 1 that’s set for upheaval in 2022, as the NASCAR Cup series adopts its Next Gen cars that will cast any in-built advantages aside and require teams to adopt a totally new way of operating. Far more than just a change of machinery, the new cars amount to a shift in NASCAR's core philosophy
Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR
Bubba Wallace claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Monday to become the first Black victor in the category since Wendell Scott in 1963. Both Wallace and Scott had faced obstacles and racism in their paths to their breakthrough wins, and NASCAR is trying to put it right with its range of diversity programmes
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.