Kyle Busch's hot start to the 2024 season has the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion atop the driver's points standings for the first time since joining Richard Childress Racing.
Busch holds a slim one-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron in second and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric after opening the season with a 12th-place finish at Daytona and a third-place result last weekend at Atlanta.
Prior to this week, the highest Busch had ranked in the points since joining RCR was third, following the July Atlanta race last season. This is actually the first time he has led the points since winning his second title in 2019 (145 races ago). Now, the Las Vegas native heads back to his old stomping grounds to earn his first win of the 2024 season. Busch has made 25 Cup Series starts at Las Vegas, collecting one win (2009), 12 top fives, 15 top 10s, and an average finish of 10.6. He has also led 311 laps at the 1.5-mile facility.
Busch enters the Las Vegas weekend as a favorite at his home track. He has finished in the top five in five of his last six starts at the speedway.
Suarez wins three-wide finish in Atlanta, becomes second driver to lock into the Playoffs
Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, from Monterrey, Mexico, managed to win in a three-wide photo finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway last Sunday, claiming his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory (Sonoma, 2022 and Atlanta, 2024). With the win, Suarez not only tied Juan Pablo Montoya (Sonoma, 2007 and Watkins Glen, 2010) and Marcos Ambrose (Watkins Glen, 2001 and 2012) for the most Cup wins by a driver not born in the United States but also the second driver this season to lock themselves into the Playoffs, joining Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron, who won the season-opening DAYTONA 500.
This weekend, Suarez will look to keep his winning ways going at Las Vegas, a track he has made 13 series starts at, putting up two top-10 finishes and leading 84 laps.
NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this story.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/2/1230538/nascar-notes-kyle-busch-at-the-top-suarez-becomes-second-driver-to-lock-down-playoff-spot