Amid major slump, Kyle Busch looking for big weekend at Atlanta

Atlanta Motor Speedway might be just the track Kyle Busch needs to see at the moment. 

Busch's well-documented winless NASCAR Cup Series season in 2024 — the first winless season of his career — and a 34th-place finish in Sunday's Daytona 500 means he enters the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta on a 58-race winless streak in the Cup Series, which is easily the longest such streak of his career. 

Atlanta might be just the place for Busch to break that streak, however. In February 2024, Busch finished third in the infamous three-wide photo finish. In September, Busch finished seventh to cap the best four-race stretch of his 2024 season. 

Those statistics bode well for Busch's full-time job in the NASCAR Cup Series, but Busch is pulling double-duty at Atlanta. After winning two Truck Series races — including Atlanta — with Spire Motorsports in 2024, Busch will drive for the team in five more Truck Series races in 2025, beginning with Atlanta on Feb. 22. 

Busch's Truck Series resume at Atlanta Motor Speedway almost seems like a list of statistics accumulated on a NASCAR video game. Out of 14 starts, Busch has 11 top-10s, 10 top-fives and seven wins, including a victory in 2024, the only time he's driven a Truck at Atlanta since the reconfiguration in 2022. 

Atlanta may be drastically different from the Atlanta Busch won six Truck races at from 2005 to 2021, but he's proved to be quick at the 1.5-mile track that now races like a superspeedway. Amid a dry spell, another Truck Series win could lead into a much-needed good run in Sunday's Cup Series race.