Kyle Busch / No. 18 Sport Clips Toyota Camry Preview FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway

PHOENIX, AZ

No. 18 Sport Clips Toyota Camry News and Notes:

• BUSCH AT PHOENIX RACEWAY: The 2019 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Busch has 29 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) starts at the one-mile tri-oval. He has captured three wins, 11 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s, which includes the aforementioned back-to-back victories in November 2018 and March 2019. 
• CAREER STARTS: The FanShield 500 will mark Busch’s 537^th career NCS start and his 30^th NCS start at Phoenix Raceway.
• CAREER TOTALS: Busch has career totals of 56 wins, 32 poles, 201 top-five finishes, 297 top-10s and 17,442 laps led in 537 career NCS races. His most recent Cup Series win came in November 2019 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch’s most recent pole, 32^nd of his career, came in November 2019 at Phoenix Raceway.
• THIS WEEK ON THE NO. 18 CAMRY: For this week’s FanShield 500, the No. 18 Toyota Camry will carry the red and black Sport Clips colors. Beginning this season, Sport Clips added Busch and Martin Truex Jr. to their family of drivers joining Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin.
• JGR AT PHONEIX RACWAY: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) owns six NCS victories at Phoenix Raceway, including three in a row and four of the past five trips to the track. In 119 combined starts at the one-mile tri-oval, the organization has tallied 37 top-five finishes, 63 top-10s and six pole awards. Busch, Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart have all wheeled JGR entries to wins at Phoenix Raceway.
• TOYOTA GOES FOR 500: Toyota Racing is looking for its 500^th NASCAFR national series win, which it could earn with a victory this weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Toyota currently has 144 NCS victories, 163 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories and 192 Truck wins. Busch leads Toyota with 188 wins in a Toyota, including 52 NCS victories. 
• RACE INFO: The FanShield at Phoenix Raceway is scheduled for Sunday, March 8, 2020. Coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN Radio.

Busch Career NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Phoenix Raceway:

Busch 2020 Season NASCAR Cup Series Stats:

Busch Career NASCAR Cup Series Stats:

From the Driver’s Seat: Kyle Busch

How do you look at going to Phoenix and translating it to the championship race? 

“I look forward to Phoenix, it’s always fun and a good place for us. Lately, we’ve been able to really pick up on some things that help us there that have made us better there the last few times and now this package is different. I think that will lend itself back into a couple years ago I guess, which is a good thing for us and our Sport Clips Camry. Felt like we were just kind of hitting on something there and was a big racier through traffic and such. We’ll see how all that goes. Next week is a big week on trying  to formulate  that  notebook and try some things and have  some ideas, some concepts maybe that you wouldn’t  normally do to just  get  out of the  way and utilize your time as much as you can for the championship when you come back.”

Is Phoenix more important with the new package or the site of the championship?

“I think that’s two-fold. Obviously, it’s because it’s the first race with that lower downforce package if that’s what we call it and people are going to want to know what to expect in the upcoming races with that. I also look at it as of course it’s important and everybody is going to feel like it’s important because everybody right now feels like they have a shot to make the final four because it’s so early in the season. There should be an added emphasis by people to go out there and learn a few things, try a few things and get themselves ready for the end of the year being at the final race.”