Kyle Busch is arguably one of the best racers in the series right now at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His two Brickyard 400 wins have him in elite company of multi-Brickyard winners. But, since he picked up his second win in 2016, he’s struggled.

He was up front in 2017 before crashing with Martin Truex Jr. in going for the lead on a mid race restart. In 2018, he came home eighth. Last year, he blew and engine and wound up 37th.

Can Busch find victory in Sunday’s race?

“I think the biggest thing about the Brickyard is the prestige – the track’s history and quality of racing, all the historic finishes it’s had over the years, whether it’s been IndyCar or NASCAR,” said Busch ahead of Sunday’s race. “To me, it’s a special place to go to because of its heritage of being Indianapolis. Every guy in NASCAR, and especially every guy in IndyCar, they want to win there. So hoping we can get our first win of the season there and bring our Skittles America Mix Camry to victory lane there again and be known as a three-time winner there.”

Prior to this recent three race slide, Busch had four top two finishes in a five year span. In fact, from his first start in 2005, through his win in 2016, Busch had 10 top 10 finishes in 12 tries.

Now, he has one in his last three.

Busch, also needs a win. He’s been running well on the season but can’t seem to find the overall speed that it takes to take the checkered flag first.

He’s riding a 15 race winless streak and has just one win in his last 37 starts. He needs this win on Sunday. It would be a big one for them as they treat Indy as a Crown jewel event.

“It is, Busch said. “It certainly was special winning both of the Brickyard races. I think that, for myself and the 18 team, winning there two years in a row was thrilling. It was really special as a whole team, and they treat it very special there, as well, with the whole ceremony postrace and everything that goes on there with taking the ride around the track and the owner being with you. J.D. (Gibbs) being there with us on that first Brickyard win was very special and a memory I will always have.

“That was pretty cool.

“It is a big deal. I feel like it is for us. For our team, we circle it on the calendar every year – that’s one we want to win. We always circle the Daytona 500, the Coke 600, the All-Star Race, the Brickyard 400, the Southern 500 and the Championship Race. There are probably a couple more in there that you want to win, such as any one race within each round of the playoffs. You want to win any of those to get yourself locked in and moving on to the next round just to solidify your chances of being able to win a championship. But it’s obviously a big race, and I guess it still pays pretty decent, so you might as well win it and we are going to try just that this weekend with our Skittles America Mix Camry.”

For Busch, he’s said that this season with the lack of practicing, it’s causing their downward fall. But, Indy is a place he’s comfortable and confident at.

“I think it’s a little bit of both,” Busch said on if he’s figured something out at Indy. “I think I figured a little bit of something out, but I also think that me figuring something out has helped us be able to develop our car better, too. Like, setup-wise, I know what I need within the car now that makes you faster at Indy than what I had been running in the past.”

The Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 will mark Kyle Busch’s 550th career NASCAR Cup Series starts and his 16th Cup Series start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Busch, has career totals of 56 wins, 32 poles, 207 top-five finishes, 304 top-10s and 17,561 laps led in 559 career Cup Series races. His most recent Cup Series win came in November at Homestead-Miami Speedway, resulting in his second Cup Series championship. Busch’s most recent pole, the 32nd of his career, came in November at Phoenix Raceway.

With being a veteran of all those starts and accomplishments, Busch was asked about what makes Indy different than everywhere else.

“It’s very tight down the straightaways,” said Busch. “You roll through (turns) one and two and there are people on the inside, there are people on the outside, there are people in the grass, just sitting along the back straightaway on the inside. You’ve got the golf course there and fans sitting on the hills underneath the trees.

“You start back up into turn three, with the grandstands going around (turns) three and four, and then down the frontstretch and, again, there are two tunnels. There’s a tunnel at the (turns) one and two side, and on the (turns) three and four side.

“There’s a center road that runs all the way through and then, coming down the frontstretch again, looking on both sides of you, you’ve got the pit road, which is really narrow and really tight, and the grandstands on the inside and the outside. So, you’re going down a ‘V’ of just people in most years.

“Coming to the Pagoda and the media center, the way it is, and of course the scoring pylon being as tall as it is, you come down there and, if you’re leading the race, sometimes you can’t see that high, so you’re kind of wondering who is second and third, or who is behind you. It stinks when you’re running in the back because you can see yourself (car number) right there.”