Kurt Busch joined the list of NASCAR’s 2022 winners last weekend in Kansas after he drove his Jordan-branded Toyota Camry #45 for 23XI to the Victory Lane. With his first win of the season, the 23XI driver earned a spot in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Since the start of the 2022 season, the sport has registered eleven different winners in thirteen races so far. This kind of record was last witnessed 19 years ago, in 2003, when NASCAR recorded eleven winners in 13 races, with Kurt Busch being among the drivers who clinched a win during that time.
In 2003, Michael Waltrip won the season opener at the Daytona 500. Dale Jarrett went on to win the second race, while Matt Kenseth secured the third race. The fourth and fifth races were won by Bobby Lambote and Ricky Craven respectively.
Busch could have won the fifth race at Darlington, but Ricky Craven managed to hold him off and entered the Victory Lane, beating Busch by 0.002 seconds. After a tight battle at Darlington, Busch went on to make a comeback at Bristol Motor Speedway the following week and won.
Legendary driver and seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Gordon were some of the drivers who won that year.
Kurt Busch earned a second win for the 23XI Racing team since its inauguration
The Las Vegas native's recent win was an enormous achievement for NASCAR's youngest team, 23XI Racing, which is only their second win since their inauguration in 2020. Busch joined the team at the start of the season, partnering driver Bubba Wallace Jr.
Kurt Busch and his teammates have been facing tough racing weekends for the majority of the season. In Darlington, they were eliminated in a single crash.
Following a series of poor performances, the 43-year-old and 23XI have been receiving criticism from every corner. With the win and the fast pace that the two 23XI Racing drivers displayed at Kansas Speedway last weekend, the team was able to shut the critics up. If the team can maintain the same pace, it will be one of the best teams at the end of the season.