Rowdy Will Keep Rolling

There was a question asked on the radio today that sparked a pretty good debate. Sirius XM NASCAR’s The Morning Drive hosts Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone asked fans, “Who is the top Toyota driver right now, Martin Truex Jr. or Kyle Busch?” The calls went back and forth between the two drivers, and both hosts admitted it was a close contest. Their Twitter poll asking the same question had overwhelming results in favor of MTJ as two thirds of voters selected the driver of car 78. There is no question that the 78 team has been the best team for most of the regular season, let alone the top Toyota. Truex will likely win the regular season championship and score 15 more playoff points. But is Truex or Busch the top driver heading into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs?

Give me Rowdy.

Over the last seven races, since Kentucky, Busch has four poles and two victories, including the Night Race last week at Bristol to cap off a weekend sweep. Busch is exuding confidence after each win he picks up, no matter in which series. His attitude towards losing has not changed, as he still gets upset, and sometimes heated, but his feelings about his haters are exactly where they need to be. He loves his support from members of “Rowdy Nation,” and shakes of the haters, seemingly brushing them off to focus on winning. That type of mind set will carry him far.

Busch and crew chief Adam Stevens also have experience on their side. Their run to the 2015 Cup championship is going to help them a ton this year. They know what it takes to make it by each round, and the easiest way to do so is by winning. Busch has a combined 11 wins at the 9 tracks that make up the first three rounds of the playoffs, only not having scored a points victory at Charlotte. There is a good possibility that he could win a race in each of the three rounds to qualify for Homestead. If he doesn’t he has 20 playoff points (as of today) to help carry him there.

Truex has made a deep run to Homestead in the past, and has the most playoff points by a wide margin, but winning at Homestead is a different story. It usually takes a race win in the finale to be crowned champion, and Truex hasn’t done that yet. There is little doubt that both Busch and Truex will make it to Homestead, but give Busch, Stevens, and the 18 team the advantage once the green flag drops.

Of course there will be at least two other drivers for Busch to compete with in the final race, possibly the likes of Kyle Larson and Jimmie Johnson out of the Chevy camp, and Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski in Fords, but this article was about the top Toyota.

Kyle Busch and his M&M’s Camry are the top Toyota team, and will get it done at Homestead.