Kyle Busch says his domination of the Phoenix NASCAR weekend has left him kicking himself even more for a penalty at Las Vegas a week earlier.
Busch is now on 199 wins across NASCAR’s top three divisions, having won in all three series – Trucks, Xfinity and Cup – at Phoenix.
At Vegas, he swept the two supporting categories at the start of the weekend, but had to settle for third in the Cup race because a pitlane speeding penalty had left him fighting back from a lap down.
“This makes last weekend [Vegas] so much stupider,” said Busch after his Phoenix win.
“I wish we could have swept last week too.”
The Phoenix results mean Busch is now just one victory behind Richard Petty’s record of 200 NASCAR wins – although Petty achieved all his triumphs in the top level Cup series.
Busch has 52 at Cup level, 94 in what is currently the Xfinity series and 53 from Trucks. The next-best active driver is Kevin Harvick on 106 wins in total.
Busch has the opportunity to surpass the 200 mark at Fontana next weekend, when he is again contesting all three races.
But he played down the significance of the record.
“It’s not for me to worry about,” he said.
“It’s for everyone else to discuss and talk about and argue over and debate.
“For myself and the career that I’ve had, I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of top people and a lot of great sponsors.
“To work with my guys and take them to Victory Lane is what it’s all about.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver achieved his Phoenix Cup win by overcoming poleman Ryan Blaney’s Penske Ford in the closing stages.
Their battle occurred amid fuel mileage worries as the race finished with a 74-lap green-flag run.
“You’ve got to go race hard first and then you have to worry about fuel afterwards,” said Busch.
“Once I got to Blaney, I was able to save a little bit.
“Then I tried to take care of my tyres for the rest of the traffic that we had to get through and make sure we had enough fuel to make it to the end.”