Dover pole could be shot in the arm for Kyle Busch

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch. Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Dover pole could be shot in the arm for struggling Kyle Busch

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated 4/27/24

Despite a rough start for the season, Kyle Busch and the No. 8 team brought a fast racecar to Dover, Delaware.

Busch put his Chevrolet Camaro at the top of the chart on Saturday, winning his 33rd career Busch Light Pole Award and second with Richard Childress Racing.

The first pole position for Busch with RCR came at Gateway last summer, a race that Busch would go on to win.

A win for Busch this time around would be much appreciated, as he and the No. 8 team have gotten off to a rocky start in 2024, sitting 17th in the standings through 10 races, 12 points outside of the current NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture.

All that effort looks to be paying off for the No. 8 team. #BuschLightPole pic.twitter.com/8X7qO6oj1e
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 27, 2024

A victory on Sunday, however, would lock Busch into the postseason field and give the No. 8 team a much needed shot in the arm.

"We started (the season) really good. The first month was strong," Busch said in his post-qualifying interview. "We had some really good races there. Just had other issues, but the last month or so has definitely been a struggle with speed ... We're wanting to trend the right way, putting in the effort and the hours and all the extra work to figure out exactly what's going on and why. This is our first test of it. We felt like Dover and Kansas would be a really good test of some stuff, and what do you know, it worked."

Busch is a three-time winner at Dover, with his most recent win at the Monster Mile coming in 2017. In the two Dover races with the Next-Gen car, Busch has finished seventh and 21st, respectively.

The green flag will drop for the Wurth 400 at Dover at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday. The race will air on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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