Kyle Busch 2014 Review
By Richard Tix
Season Grade: B-
Personally, going into 2014 I thought Kyle Busch was going to have a big year. I bought into it after he had a good end to the 2013 season. You can even notice it in my preview of him before the season:
"The 2014 season could be one of Kyle's best if he can take his Chase momentum and continue it all season long (and maybe figure out Kansas along the way). Kyle Busch has to be looked at as a driver ready to take down Jimmie Johnson and also one of JJ's biggest threats. A lot of young guns are hitting the prime of there racing career and Rowdy might be leading the pack." - Season Preview
However, for most of the season I was disappointing. I still think a lot of it had to do with the lack of speed in the JGR camp, more specifically the Toyota Racing Development camp. Not that Toyota's were the slowest thinks out there (looking at you Roush Fenway), but they just didn't have the consistent speed to stay with Hendrick and Penske (or anything with a HMS engine, Harvick).
But in the end, no excuses. Rowdy tied an all time low in win's (1) and top 5's in his full time career (9). He also had his second lowest season total in top 10's (15. He had 13 twice). To add injury to insult, his average finish of 17.6 is his worst average since his rookie year (full time seasons only).
Not all was lost, though. Kyle finished the year with 6 top 10's in the Chase (3 top 5's). He was in a position to keep advancing in the Chase until he tried playing it safe at Talladega and got hit from behind during a caution, ruining his day and leaving him out of the Eliminator Round. At the end of the day, Rowdy had an off season but still had the chance to keep advancing with a bunch of top 10's during the Chase. He is one of many drivers looking to put 2014 behind him and move onto the new season.
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