In just its second year of existence, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway hosted a summer NASCAR Cup Series race on Aug. 23, 1970, a race won by Pete Hamilton. From there, Talladega continued to host an August race until 1983, when its event was shifted into July for the first time. That race on July 31, 1983 started a string of races where the series came back to Alabama in the month of July each year through the 1996 season. In 1997, the event shifted toward the cooler spring weather and the 2.66-mile superspeedway oval has hosted annual spring races in either April or May ever since.

But just like almost everything else in 2020, Talladega’s annual spring race was thrown a curveball by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its spring race this year has been moved to the track’s first-ever late June weekend. The likely temporary summer date will no doubt bring back memories for some of Talladega’s hot summer weather of years past when NASCAR’s top series heads there for Sunday afternoon’s GEICO 500.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), heads to Talladega this weekend looking for his first Cup Series victory of the season, although he’s secured a solid six top-five finishes thus far in this unconventional 2020 season.

While Busch and his No. 18 Interstate Batteries team are capable of winning at any track, it will be a particular challenge for him this weekend at the mammoth Talladega oval, where he’s had a career of ups and downs. Compared to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where he has eight Cup Series wins, and Richmond, where he has six, Busch has won just once in 29 career starts at Talladega. His lone victory came in April 2008, and he has accumulated 13 other top-15 finishes there, but also exited five races early due to accidents.

So as Busch heads to Talladega this weekend, he would like nothing more than to get back to victory lane at the start of another hot summer in Alabama. But, in order to do so, he’ll have to somehow stay out of the inevitable multicar Talladega accidents and be running at the end to put himself in position to get his Interstate Batteries Toyota to victory lane in the first summer race there in almost 25 years.

“You kind of look at what Denny (Hamlin) does and what Brad (Keselowski) does, the guys who are good racers at Daytona and Talladega and the guys who are fast at those places,” Busch said. “Denny makes the most out of what he’s got for equipment, and I’ve got the same stuff and I’m not quite as forceful in situations as he is, and he makes that work for him.

“Our cars have been better at the speedway tracks and I’m hoping we can have a good run at Talladega. I won’t try to put myself in a bad spot to cause something, but it’s always a challenge and it’s always different. I feel like, every time you go to Talladega it’s the same, but it’s different and you just don’t know what to expect.

“A lot of new drivers who are out there don’t have wins, yet, in our series who are going to be hungry and looking for wins, so they’re going to be trying to punch their tickets to the playoffs and be very aggressive. You’ve got to be mindful of that, too.”

They’ll have to do so without any practice time either. Yes, changes have been made to the superspeedway package since Daytona this past February, but none of the 40 drivers will get a chance to adapt.

“I think it would be more of an issue with the engine tuners and knowing whether or not we guessed correct on the gear,” Busch said about if he’s concerned about the lack of practice. “Then, obviously whether they can guess right on the fuel mapping of the engine, stuff like that with it just being different RPM and essentially less horsepower.

“I think it’s going to be something more challenging for them than for us drivers. I don’t think any of us would have any problem with it. Looking forward to getting back in the Interstate Batteries car this weekend and hoping to get us back to victory lane there at Talladega.”