No matter what you think about him, Kyle Busch in on the verge of something special. He’s soon to pass up the Petty family in two major categories.

Busch, is only two wins away from tying Lee Petty for 10th on the all-time wins list in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He’s also only two wins away in any NASCAR race to surpassing Richard Petty for most wins ever.

Those two statements bring a ton of controversy about it. See, Busch has been treated like a villain in this sport since the mid 2000’s. People don’t like when villains succeed. When they do so in dominating fashion, they find faults in it.

“He should never be compared to Richard,” say naysayers. Busch, agrees with you. He doesn’t want to be either. It’s just that, it’s hard not to when you win literally 20-percent of your races.

See, Busch has made 996 starts across all three divisions of NASCAR. He’s won 199 of them. While only 52 of them have occurred in NASCAR’s premiere division, reaching victory lane 199 times still calls for a celebration.

Granted, all of Petty’s 200 wins came in NASCAR’s premiere series, most were in a different day and age though. The drivers raced more. The fields weren’t as strong or as deep. The talent gap from the top to the bottom was wider.

But, Busch is still 148 victories shy of tying Petty for Cup wins. I get why you don’t want to put that into consideration. What if I told you that only 60 of Petty’s 200 wins came in what NASCAR considers their “modern era.” He also only had 81 “Cup” wins too in total.

Busch, is only 33 years old and has plenty of time to honestly eclipse those numbers. He’s at 52. By this time next year he could have past Petty’s “modern era” wins.

Yes, he only has one championship, but it’s much harder to win a title these days with the new playoff format. The fields are tighter. The margin for error is smaller. Still, Busch is dominating which is a factor itself.

No matter how you feel about him, you can’t deny his talent. He’s only 24 wins shy of tying Dale Earnhardt for Cup victories. He’s had 24 wins just in the last 169 starts. If he keeps a similar pace up, Busch will move ahead of Earnhardt’s 76 wins by 2023. At that point, he’s only seven wins away from moving behind Jeff Gordon. In reality, that means in the next 4-6 years, Busch could be fourth on the all-time Cup wins list and only be 37 years of age.

Where NASCAR fans’ problem with Busch’s overall win total is, he’s feeding on lesser talent in the feeder series. He’s won 94 times in the XFINITY Series and 53 times in the Truck Series. Those divisions are filled mostly with younger talent trying to prove themselves.

Many would consider Busch a generational talent. When he goes back to race in those series’ would be like LeBron James playing in the NBA G League. I get your gripe. But, Busch runs those races as a hobby and to help his organization on the sponsorship front. If he doesn’t run, the sponsors don’t come, therefore JGR and KBM may not even be around at those levels. In turn, the money gained helps his Cup program.

What’s remarkable is, Busch has finished in the top five 50-percent of the time. He has 494 top five finishes in those 996 starts. He also has 640 top 10’s which is a 64.3-percent rate.

If you go to a race Busch is competing in, there’s almost a 7-in-10 chance he will finish in the top 10.

He’s also led 41,853 laps in his career too.

There’s no doubt about it, he’s among the best ever. It’s only a matter of time, not if, Busch passes the Petty’s. Get used to it.