Is NASCAR’s greatest flex now completely out of reach? Not only did Kyle Busch win three races in a single weekend in 2010, but he also made history. He dominated the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup races with such accuracy that even his most ferocious competitors stopped and gawked. Bristol, under the lights, became his playground. It’s worth noting that before Rowdy, none of the drivers in NASCAR had been able to win all three national series races. But in 2017, he went on to do it again. Although his Cup Series was far from perfect, he got the job done.
Holding off rookie Erik Jones to the finish line by the margin of 1.422 seconds, Busch was running on fumes. “That’s all I had. I was running with my tongue hanging out. My arms were Jello and my throat hurts, but man that’s awesome.” It goes to show that competing in three races across the weekend takes both a mental and physical toll. Which is why very few drivers try to attempt this massive undertaking.
Kyle Larson likes a good challenge, and he signed up for it not just once but twice. The first one came at Homestead Miami Speedway, and the other one at the half-mile of Bristol. But on both occasions, he fell just short of leveling Rowdy’s record. And this makes you wonder, will we ever see a NASCAR driver pull off a clean sweep on a NASCAR weekend?
Larger Truth: Two-Time History May Outlast Kyle Larson’s Same Dream?
Let’s go back to Bristol in 2010, the year that Busch made his mark on NASCAR history. He dominated the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup fields for three nights, and on Sunday, he became the only driver to ever win all three in a single weekend. After the final win, Busch’s reaction made it clear how long he’d been chasing this: “I’ve been trying to do this since I got to NASCAR. I love Bristol and I love winning. And to do it for the first time in NASCAR, to sweep the weekend, man, that’s pretty awesome,” Kyle Busch said.
Seven years later, in 2017, Busch pulled off the same feat, this time at Bristol, demonstrating that his first sweep wasn’t a fluke but rather a result of his adaptability, endurance, and an unwavering hunger that few people in the sport possess. Similarly, Busch’s assessment of how challenging the sweep had gotten as the sport changed said it all. Despite winning the Truck and Xfinity races, he could not complete a second consecutive sweep at Phoenix in 2019. “Man, God, this makes last week feel so much stupider. Man, I wish we could have swept last week, too. That would have been pretty awesome to start this year with two weekend sweeps in a row.” Rowdy said in 2017.
Many fans and industry insiders consider Kyle Larson to be the most gifted pure driver in NASCAR right now. His command of several surfaces has long led to comparisons to drivers like Stewart and Foyt. He hasn’t mastered the weekend sweep, though. Had it not been for the late race caution during the Hard Rock Bet 300, we would be celebrating Larson’s sweep. During that race, he was 16 seconds ahead of second-place driver Sam Mayer before Taylor Gray spun.
Meanwhile, Sam Mayer didn’t help his cause after getting in the back of the No. 17 car. It is indeed rare Larson to lose his cool, but a few weeks back, he did. “Lagged back and just slammed the [expletive] out of me and had my rear tires off the ground.” Well, this wasn’t the end of the road, as he geared up for another sweep attempt at Bristol. While he managed to see the Xfinity Series race, the Truck Series event held him back. This time around, it was a tight truck, and a pit stop fumble ended his bid from the very first race of the weekend itself.
WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK – AUGUST 20: Kyle Larson, driver of the #88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, (R) and Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 BRANDT Chevrolet, talk during practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Go Rewards 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 20, 2022 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Larson’s unsuccessful sweeps demonstrate how uncommon and challenging Busch’s triple victories were, as well as how much the sport has evolved since then. Cup drivers now have to limit their truck and Xfinity entries, which reduces track time. With more specialized drivers and shorter series intervals, the competition is more intense. It is more difficult to locate winning rides at all three levels because of manufacturer relationships and equipment exclusivity.
The charter system and playoff approach encourage clubs to prioritize long-term objectives above short-term success. Additionally, the physical and psychological toll of doing triple duty has never been higher due to more rigorous schedules and increased intensity. Busch’s reputation is enhanced rather than diminished by Kyle Larson’s frequent misfires. It only goes to show how superhuman Busch’s weekends were if the sport’s finest all-around driver can’t pull it off. Busch did more than simply win. He overcame a whole race schedule. By attempting and failing, Larson unintentionally confirms what many have started to believe: The weekend sweep may not only be uncommon, but it may also be coming to an end.
Larson might give it another go. Others may as well. However, each setback pushes Busch’s record closer to the legendary—not just difficult to match, but possibly impossible. Weekend sweeping wasn’t all Kyle Busch did. Crossover domination was still possible during the era he swept. One where being able to try at all was just as important as pushing harder to win everything.
Restricted, Rescheduled, Rewritten: Why Larson Couldn’t Match Busch
In 2010 and 2017, when Kyle Busch achieved his historic weekend sweeps, NASCAR was a completely different sport. It was doable, if not practical, to pursue all three victories in a single weekend, thanks to the scheduling, which also allowed Cup drivers to run as many Truck and Xfinity races as they desired. In fact, it was more than just skill and permitted by the system.
However, that system is no longer in use. Kyle Busch’s historic weekend sweep is now practically difficult to duplicate due to NASCAR’s changing structure, which is characterized by schedule compression, driver restrictions, and increased parity. Cross-series involvement has been strictly restricted by NASCAR since 2020. In the Xfinity and Truck Series, drivers who have more than three years of full-time Cup experience are now limited to five appearances annually. Some praised the move, but others who are vying for multi-series domination bemoaned it. The adjustment was made, in part, to increase the visibility of younger drivers and lessen the dominating influence of Cup stars in the lower divisions.
“We want our up-and-coming drivers to be able to shine in their respective series. These limits help promote development while still allowing Cup drivers to compete selectively,” NASCAR stated at the time. In addition to limitations, the sport’s technical structure has evolved. The Cup Series is now more equal due to the introduction of the Next Gen vehicle, which also makes race results more unpredictable. Execution, pit cycles, and track position are now more important than ever, and drivers no longer only depend on natural skill or team domination.
The schedule comes next. Due to NASCAR’s shortened race weekends, turnaround times have become more stringent, and there is less room for triple-duty work. Running three series in two or three days is a logistically taxing task, particularly since setups, crew coordination, and qualifying are all done separately. Although Hendrick Motorsports has its skin in the game in all three series, it’s just tough to plan a weekend where a Cup driver could run three races. And that, in turn, has become a big obstacle that might keep Rowdy’s record out of reach for now.
The post NASCAR’s Weekend Sweep: Is Kyle Busch’s Record Forever Untouchable? What Does Kyle Larson’s 2 Consecutive Failures Tell Us? appeared first on EssentiallySports.