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Kyle Busch Channels Dale Earnhardt In Expressing Frustration With Daytona 500
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The No. 8 race team’s radio crackled to life just before the most important part of NASCAR's biggest race.
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Kyle Busch exclaimed, Back in 1998, that would be the win, boys! referencing Dale Earnhardt Sr.
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In 1998, Earnhardt was one of the best drivers of all-time but had not won a Daytona 500 in 19 attempts.
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Similarly, Busch was a two-time Cup champion who had not won a Daytona 500 yet.
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Earnhardt won the race 25 years ago under caution, but Busch got caught in a wreck and finished 19th.
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Busch led Lap 200 for the first time and wished it was 1998 rules.
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Busch’s teammate, Austin Dillon, also hoped for the No. 8 car’s win, and they worked together to make a move past other drivers.
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But a restart after Daniel Suarez’s spin-out before the white flag emerged in regulation dashed Busch's chances.
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Busch has been critical of what he thinks the Daytona 500 has devolved into and called the end of the race a wreck-fest.
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended up winning the race, but Busch did not know who won at first.
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Busch enters his 18th Daytona 500 with an average finishing position of 20.2 and has failed to finish three of his last six races.
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Luck plays an increasingly large role at Daytona, with no driver winning from the pole since 2000.
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There’s at least a loose correlation between starting position and finish position at most tracks, but this does not hold for Daytona.
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Drivers who qualify well at Daytona have less chance of finishing well than at other tracks.
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This was not always the case, as Daytona used to race differently.
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Busch and Earnhardt share many similarities, and Busch was hoping that this year's race could be his version of 1998, but it was not to be.