Kyle Busch ended the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season celebrating in victory lane at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. He not only won the race on the 1.5-mile South Florida race track, but the championship too.

Little did he know then, that he wouldn’t win since. That’s right, it’s seven months later and Busch still hasn’t placed his No. 18 Toyota in victory lane. To be fair, we did have two months off for COVID and two more months of an offseason, but we have also raced 13 times this year and he’s not won any of them.

Furthermore, if you go back further into last season, Busch has just one victory in his last 35 starts. That’s crazy to think about.

But, it’s not like he hasn’t been close in those 34 races that he didn’t win either. He does have seven runner-up finishes in that time frame to go along with 14 top five finishes in the 34 races that he didn’t win. He’s heading to the Pocono Raceway this weekend for the rare doubleheader format on the heels of four top four finishes in his last eight tries on the season.

The problem is, the speed is just lacking to get the job done.

Busch, led only 14 laps in the season opening Daytona 500. He didn’t lead a single lap again until earlier this month at Bristol when he paced the field for 100 circuits. He led seven more laps in Atlanta a week later but none since.

He’s even admitted to the lack of speed too saying that the finishes he’s had, weren’t indicative on the speed, or lack there of.

Maybe Pocono is just what the doctor ordered though. Busch, has won three of the last five Pocono races on the Cup level and has four top three finishes in his last five tries on the 2.5-mile track overall.

“There are certainly a lot of things over the years that we’ve worked on and there are definitely things we’ve fine-tuned on and gotten a lot better at,” Busch said on what makes him so good at Pocono. “I think starting in 2013 or 2014, and then it’s evolved with Adam Stevens being the crew chief since 2015, as well. We’ve run really well there. It’s a good track for us.”

Busch, said he’s learned a lot from his teammates in Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. They’ve brought on some new, fresh ideas, which he says has helped.

“There are so many different ways you can do it,” Busch said of learning the track. “You can look at data, you can look at the driving technique. Talking is kind of the best resource, just being able to ask the guy, ‘Hey, when you do this, why do you do this, or what do you expect when you get into a run and you’re going this far, and tire wear, and how do you get around turn two.’ Whatever it might be. Lots of different things there, being teammates with Denny (Hamlin) for this long, it’s lended itself to myself improving at Pocono and Martinsville, places like that, and him improving at places like Bristol and Charlotte from myself. It’s a good take there.

“And then having Martin (Truex Jr.) now, having him on board, who is really good everywhere, as well, has definitely brought a good basis to our team, as well as having our past teammates like Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards – so it’s been good.”

While all of this is great, this weekend will still be vastly different. Busch, says that Pocono changes each time they come back and combine that with an invert on Sunday, it’s going to keep them on their heels still.

“Every time you go there, it’s a bit different,” Busch said of the race track. “The bumps change, the characteristics change. Where the bumps are. Are they getting bigger? Are they getting worse? Is there more? That turn-two tunnel turn is always a culprit for the bumps, and the harsh winters up there really change the racetrack. Then, what happens in turn three, where the wind is blowing and stuff like that, is always kind of a convoluted piece to Pocono, and how you get through turn three versus turn one versus two. There are three distinctly different corners, there’s definitely going to be compromise.”

Even success on Saturday, won’t necessarily make these guys immune from changes to their Sunday car.

“I think you will have to make some changes to your stuff. The first race, there’s only going to be the Truck Series rubber, it’s only 60 laps, so there’s just going to be a little rubber down. Then, we’re going to put a lot of rubber down with our race. Then you’ll have the Xfinity race the next day, and then you’ll have our race. Over the course of all those miles, I think the main similarities between the two days is going to be just that – they’re a day apart rather than a month apart. There’s a difference between the Pocono racetrack when it’s a month apart, but when it’s day one to day two, there are going to be big differences in day one to day two, so you have to take a lot of different things into account.”

In terms of what the most critical adjustments that they can make, Busch said all sorts of stuff.

“Obviously springs, shocks, bars, whatever you can change, all that sort of stuff. Making some adjustments. Knowing how much that track changes in that first race will give you a basis to how much you expect it to change in the second race barring any weather or the track. It’s 68 degrees one day and a 90 degrees on the other, there are going to be some big differences you’re going to want to adjust for and compensate for. Having a good notebook I think will certainly help us and our team, and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) being on board since 2015, since we started running good there. I think we could have a good idea of what to do with our M&M’S Minis Toyota.”

Combine all of that and you get a driver primed for a win. With two chances on the Long Pond track this weekend, this is his chance to end a 13 race winless streak.