Kyle Bush can overtake Jimmy Johnson on the all-time list

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch heads to Kansas Speedway for the 9/11 after driving 155 laps at Darlington Raceway. This led him to 18,905 laps of his career in the Cup Series, giving him a chance to beat Jimmy Johnson.

Championship winning drivers are separated by only 36 laps on the leaderboard at all times. Johnson finished his career with 18,941 races over 686 races. Bosch is at 18,905 laps ahead in 633 races of the Cup Series. Now the two-time champion will have the opportunity to take the lead in an arena where he previously had success.

“It’s been a great racetrack for us lately,” Bush said in a statement. “We had some really good runs there once the track progressed. It looked like we might have figured out where it was a little better. And you know, we’re looking forward to the opportunity to be able to go there and hopefully get a win for ourselves with the M&M’S Camry.”

The numbers marked an important day for Bush

GTKyle Bush celebrates his win at Kansas Speedway.

Bush started 29 games at Kansas Speedway in his career in the Cup Series. He struggled early in his career with only two of the top ten spots between 2004 and 2013. However, the team took a new approach in 2014, helping Bosch to get past the corner.

Since then, the 18th seeded driver has added 12 more top-10 finishes to his top-10 total. Bosch has also hit Victory Lane twice on the track – once in 2016 and once in 2021.

Bush drove more than 36 required laps during five trips to Kansas Speedway. That race includes 64 in 2006, 69 in 2016, 59 in 2017, 112 in the second race in 2017, and 52 in 2020. Now he will try to add more as he gets back to the middle track.

If Bush can lead 36 laps, he will tie Johnson to the all-time roster. 37 laps will help him take the ninth place of all time. It would then be just over 1,000 laps behind Rusty Wallace.

Oddsmakers predicted a strong performance for Busch

GTKyle Busch celebrates his victory during the 2021 Cup Series season.

There is no guarantee that Busch will jump to the front of the 36-car stadium and drive the required number of laps to pass Johnson. However, his third-place finish in May and the overall strength of Toyotas suggest he will get the job done.

According to OddsCheckerBush will be one of the favorites to win. He enters the weekend in a tie with teammate Denny Hamlin for the best odds at +600. They are ahead of Kyle Larson (+800), Martin Truex Jr. (+900), Chase Elliott (+900), Ross Chastain (+1,200), and Tyler Riddick (+1,200).

Of course, the Cup Series could also see another new winner. The 2022 season has already seen 17 drivers make the trips to Victory Lane in the first 27 races. This includes Eric Jones, who won his first race since the 2019 season and his second Southern 500.

According to the odds makers, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace could be next in line. Team Penske’s driver enters the weekend at +1,500 with driver 23XI Racing just behind him at +2,000. This puts Wallace ahead of many match drivers. In addition, Ty Gibbs has a positive odds of +3500.