We continue our weekly ‘Kyle Busch Remembered’ series as NASCAR returns to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Along with back-to-back Cup wins in the Brickyard 400, Kyle Busch won four NASCAR O’Reilly races at IMS over the years.
Busch won a total of 234 races between Cup, O’Reilly, and Trucks in his NASCAR career, more than any other driver in history. He tragically passed away unexpectedly just days after his final win at the age of 41.
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Every week since then, we’ve been highlighting his most impressive, memorable, or even infamous moments at whatever track is up next on the NASCAR Cup schedule.
We’ve already covered Atlanta, Sonoma, Nashville, Michigan, Pocono, and Chicagoland which you can find by clicking the names of each track as mentioned. Now, here’s a look back at Rowdy’s most unforgettable moments at Indianapolis…
2015 and 2016 Brickyard 400: Back-to-back crown jewel wins
Busch remains one of just three drivers to win back-to-back Brickyard 400s, along with Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick. In 2015, he took the lead late, and had to fend off challenges from both Harvick and Joey Logano through multiple restarts. In overtime, he blocked Logano’s final charge and claimed his first Cup win at Indy, leading 19 laps. The following year, he once again had to endure multiple overtime restarts, but he never gave up the lead. He won after leading an astonishing 149 of 170 laps. Busch then had the chance to become the only driver to ever pull off the three-peat at the Brickyard, but 2017’s race ended a bit differently…
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2017 Brickyard 400: Clashing with Truex in dramatic showdown
In his attempt to win three consecutive Brickyard 400s, Busch led 87 of the first 110 laps. With 50 laps to go, he restarted side-by-side with Martin Truex Jr. in the battle for the lead. Before that, they were working together to control the restarts, but that deal was done as they moved into the final leg of the race. Through Turn 1, Truex’s car twitched up the track, and suddenly, both cars slammed into the outside wall in a destructive crash. Neither driver could continue, and Truex’s car went up in flames. The dream for three in-a-row was over, and the drama did not end there. On pit road, Busch’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, had a heated verbal confrontation with a Truex crew member on pit road.
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2019 NASCAR O’Reilly: A wild final win at Indianapolis
Busch’s final opportunity to kiss the bricks came in a 2019 NASCAR O’Reilly race at the speedway. When Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell wrecked each other on a late-race restart, Busch inherited the race lead. He then had to hold back Justin Allgaier on the final restart, even as the JR Motorsports driver was all over him through the final two laps of the race. Just 0.132s separated them at the checkered flag.
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2015 NASCAR O’Reilly: Pressuring Ryan Blaney into a mistake
Busch was hunting Blaney in the closing laps of the 2015 NASCAR O’Reilly race at IMS. Busch was glued to Blaney’s back bumper for the final 20 or so laps of the race. While the Penske driver is now a Cup champion, he was still a rising star at that point, and he withstood the pressure of Busch’s constant presence for the entire run…until the final lap. Busch did not give up his pursuit, and on the white flag lap, Blaney went a little wide at the exit of Turn 2 and had to burp the throttle. That was all the opening Busch needed, decisively cutting under Blaney and taking the win.
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2012 NASCAR O’Reilly: Keeping the car out of the wall
This was another race Busch should have probably won, but it just didn’t work out that way. He led 51 of the first 80 laps, but on a late-race restart, he got loose while battling under Sam Hornish Jr. for position. Busch spun out and the car was heading directly for the inside wall. Busch immediately locked it down, rotating the car, and then throttled up away from the wall while about a foot away from impacting it. Unfortunately, his shot at the win was over, but it was still an impressive display of car control from KB.
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Kyle Busch Indianapolis Motor Speedway NASCAR Stats
NASCAR CUP: 18 starts / 2 wins / 2 poles / 5 top fives / 12 top tens / 329 laps led
O’REILLY: 7 starts / 4 wins / 5 poles / 5 top fives / 5 top tens / 358 laps led
Kyle Busch wins, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Kyle Busch wins, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
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