Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images for NASCAR
There is no doubt that the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season was a memorable one for Kyle Busch and his M&M's sponsored race teams. Unfortunately, it was not for good reasons. What looked to be another great season was derailed by another mediocre performance in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup and a suspension in the 34th race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway.
The season started off just fine for the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing team. Busch notched two victories in the first 10 races of the season, the first in the Jeff Byrd 500 at Bristol and the second at Richmond in the Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400. In three races Busch didn't win at Phoenix, Fontana and Martinsville, Busch was dominant but came up short with finishes of second, third and third.
Busch stayed steady through the summer stretch, winning the inaugural Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Five races later, Busch was victorious at Michigan in the Pure Michigan 400. Unfortunately for Busch and his team, once the Chase started the season seemed to flip a switch from great to very bad. Busch only had one top five and two top 10s in the final 10 events where going into the Chase he already had 13 top 5s and 16 top 10s. To top it all off, NASCAR banned Busch for the rest of the weekend at Texas after he had an on-track run-in with Ron Hornaday, Jr. in the truck race on Friday night. It was the first race since 2004 that Kyle Busch wasn't on track for a NASCAR Sprint Cup event.
Engine problems seemed to plague all three of Joe Gibbs Racing's Toyotas in 2011. Three times in the year, Busch had to start at the rear due to a pre-race engine change. Busch was blackflagged by NASCAR three times during the year, once for speeding, once for not slowing down in the pits when avoiding an on-track incident and once for a commitment line violation. The #18 crew was spot on all year long as they did not recieve a penalty all season.
2011 Statistics For Kyle Busch
12th in Sprint Cup standings
4 wins (Jeff Byrd 500, Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400, Quaker State 400, Pure Michigan 400)
14 top 5s
18 top 10s
1,455 laps led
2011 Penalty Report For Kyle Busch
Race 1 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 8 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
Race 11 - Pre-Race to the rear, Tail of Field, Engine
Race 12 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
Race 19 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage; Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field; Car/Truck pitting out of the assigned pit box, Held 1 lap
Race 25 - Commitment Line Violation, Pass Thru
Race 31 - Pre-Race to the rear, Tail of Field, Engine Change
Race 32 - Safety violation, tail end, failure to reduce speed on pit road; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 35 - Pre-Race to the rear, tail end, engine change