via RotoWorld/Dan Beaver.
Under NASCAR’s new format, consistency will not win a championship, but it will help a driver get quite far in the Chase.
Busch got off to a strong start last year with four top-10 finishes in the first four races. He stumbled at Auto Club Speedway and then rebounded to finish 13th at Martinsville Speedway in early April. Beginning with a ninth in the Duck Commander 500 the following week, he logged his longest streak of the season. From the April Texas Motor Speedway through June’s Sonoma Raceway event, he was never outside the top 10 and recorded his only victory of the season at Pocono Raceway.
That Axalta 400 win cemented his place in the Chase, but fantasy owners should have been more interested in the fact that he finished on the lead lap in his first 22 races of the season. In order to score top-10s in Modern Day NASCAR, one must be in a position to capitalize on late-race surges and that can only be accomplished by staying in touch with the leaders.
Busch’s lead-lap streak ended with an accident under the August lights at Bristol Motor Speedway and that incident must have taken some wind out of the team’s sails. He crashed again two weeks later at Darlington Raceway and was unable to back up one top-10 with another for the remainder of the year. He continued to score his share of top-15s, but when the crew made mistakes, he slipped into the high side of the teens or the low-20s.
Still, it was consistency that allowed him to advance all the way to the third round of the Chase. As other teams that were more greatly favored to advance made mistakes, Busch minimized his problems with a worst finish of 22nd. Unfortunately, that came in the third round at Martinsville Speedway when the competition was heating up. It was followed by another 20th at Texas Motor Speedway the next week.
Busch ended that round on a high note with a fifth at Phoenix International Raceway that came after he finished sixth on that same venue in the spring. Flat tracks share a commonality with road courses, and Busch has been among the class of the field at Sonoma and Watkins Glen International in recent seasons. That gives fantasy players a solid starting point for 2016.
Victories: Pocono (June)
Top-fives: 9 (.250)
Top-10s: 21 (.583)
Top-15s: 28 (.778)
Busch got off to a strong start last year with four top-10 finishes in the first four races. He stumbled at Auto Club Speedway and then rebounded to finish 13th at Martinsville Speedway in early April. Beginning with a ninth in the Duck Commander 500 the following week, he logged his longest streak of the season. From the April Texas Motor Speedway through June’s Sonoma Raceway event, he was never outside the top 10 and recorded his only victory of the season at Pocono Raceway.
That Axalta 400 win cemented his place in the Chase, but fantasy owners should have been more interested in the fact that he finished on the lead lap in his first 22 races of the season. In order to score top-10s in Modern Day NASCAR, one must be in a position to capitalize on late-race surges and that can only be accomplished by staying in touch with the leaders.
Busch’s lead-lap streak ended with an accident under the August lights at Bristol Motor Speedway and that incident must have taken some wind out of the team’s sails. He crashed again two weeks later at Darlington Raceway and was unable to back up one top-10 with another for the remainder of the year. He continued to score his share of top-15s, but when the crew made mistakes, he slipped into the high side of the teens or the low-20s.
Still, it was consistency that allowed him to advance all the way to the third round of the Chase. As other teams that were more greatly favored to advance made mistakes, Busch minimized his problems with a worst finish of 22nd. Unfortunately, that came in the third round at Martinsville Speedway when the competition was heating up. It was followed by another 20th at Texas Motor Speedway the next week.
Busch ended that round on a high note with a fifth at Phoenix International Raceway that came after he finished sixth on that same venue in the spring. Flat tracks share a commonality with road courses, and Busch has been among the class of the field at Sonoma and Watkins Glen International in recent seasons. That gives fantasy players a solid starting point for 2016.
Victories: Pocono (June)
Top-fives: 9 (.250)
Top-10s: 21 (.583)
Top-15s: 28 (.778)
Track
|
3-Yr
Avg. Fin |
Career
Avg. Fin |
Best
Fin |
Career
Attempts |
Career
Top-10s |
Race 1
|
Race 2
|
Watkins Glen International
|
6.33
|
17.31
|
2
|
16
|
7
|
11
| |
Sonoma Raceway
|
8.00
|
14.50
|
1
|
16
|
8
|
10
| |
Chicagoland Speedway
|
8.00
|
15.44
|
3
|
16
|
9
|
13
| |
Atlanta Motor Speedway
|
8.50
|
15.96
|
1
|
25
|
11
|
4
| |
Kentucky Speedway
|
8.67
|
10.00
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
4
| |
Phoenix International Raceway *
|
10.57
|
13.07
|
1
|
29
|
17
|
5
|
6
|
Richmond International Raceway *
|
10.67
|
16.06
|
1
|
32
|
13
|
8
|
10
|
Pocono Raceway *
|
11.50
|
14.52
|
1
|
31
|
18
|
1
|
10
|
Auto Club Speedway
|
12.00
|
12.30
|
1
|
23
|
12
|
30
| |
Talladega SuperSpeedway *
|
12.33
|
15.91
|
3
|
32
|
17
|
4
|
8
|
Daytona International Speedway
|
12.40
|
17.03
|
2
|
32
|
16
|
10
|
23
|
Homestead - Miami Speedway
|
13.25
|
19.00
|
2
|
13
|
5
|
13
| |
Charlotte Motor Speedway *
|
13.33
|
17.94
|
1
|
33
|
11
|
6
|
8
|
Michigan International Speedway
|
14.50
|
19.97
|
1
|
32
|
11
|
10
|
12
|
Texas Motor Speedway
|
16.17
|
15.46
|
1
|
28
|
15
|
9
|
20
|
Kansas Speedway
|
16.83
|
16.91
|
2
|
22
|
7
|
3
|
13
|
Dover Downs International
|
17.33
|
18.06
|
1
|
33
|
9
|
5
|
15
|
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
|
17.33
|
19.00
|
5
|
16
|
5
|
16
| |
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
|
17.50
|
21.20
|
3
|
15
|
4
|
9
| |
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
|
18.17
|
15.84
|
1
|
32
|
13
|
5
|
22
|
Bristol Motor Speedway
|
18.33
|
14.84
|
1
|
32
|
16
|
3
|
38
|
Martinsville Speedway
|
20.00
|
21.24
|
1
|
33
|
5
|
13
|
22
|
Darlington Raceway
|
23.67
|
18.15
|
2
|
20
|
6
|
34
| |
Inactive Tracks
| |||||||
Homestead - Miami Speedway - flat
|
14.33
|
3
|
1
| ||||
North Carolina Speedway
|
17.63
|
8
|
3
| ||||
++ Swept Victory Lane
+ Top-five sweeps
* Top-10 sweeps
+ Top-five sweeps
* Top-10 sweeps
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