Kyle Busch is in danger of snapping his NASCAR-record 19-year winning streak

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) – Time is running out for Kyle Busch to stretch his remarkable winning streak to 20 consecutive NASCAR seasons with at least one victory.

There are only six races remaining on the year as Busch heads to Talladega Superspeedway, where he has won twice in his career. He has won just about everywhere since his 2005 rookie season, collecting 63 Cup Series victories and a pair of championships.

But he lost his seat at Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2022 season because of sponsorship issues and his move to Richard Childress Racing has led to the longest losing streak of his career. Busch won in his second race with RCR last year, when he notched three victories and made the playoffs.

His last win, though, came at Gateway outside St. Louis in June 2023 and his losing streak is at a career-worst 51 races headed into Sunday. He didn’t qualify for the playoffs, and now he is just trying to keep his season winning streak intact.

He has a pair of runner-up finishes this year and lost a three-wide race to the finish line by a mere 0.007 seconds at the start of the season in a trio of near misses. But it was last week’s 19th-place finish at Kansas, where he started third and led 26 laps, that left the future Hall of Famer shell-shocked at how far things have fallen.

Busch’s 19 consecutive years with at least one victory is a NASCAR record, and, across all three of the national series, he has notched 231 wins. He thought a win was within reach at Kansas until he spun while passing a lapped car to end his chance at victory.