page_title: Kyle Busch
section_title: 2011
hierarchical_section_title: Kyle Busch / NASCAR career / Joe Gibbs Racing / 2011
caption_attribution_description: English: Kyle Busch during the 2011 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsvile Speedway on April 3, 2011.
context_page_description: Kyle Thomas Busch is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. As of 2020, he competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 54 Toyota Supra for JGR, and part-time in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 51 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. KBM runs multiple trucks in the Truck Series and a Super Late Model team. Busch is the 2009 Xfinity Series champion and the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series champion.
  Busch is the younger brother of 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion Kurt Busch. He holds several records in NASCAR competition, including the most race wins in a season across the top three NASCAR series, with 24 wins, which he accomplished in 2010. He holds the record for most all-time wins in all three of NASCAR's national touring series with 212. Furthermore, he holds the record for the most Xfinity Series wins in a season with 13 in 2010, and the most overall with 97. Busch also holds the record for most overall wins in the Truck Series with 59.
context_section_description: Busch's 2011 Sprint Cup Series season began with a wreck in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Busch also raced in all three NASCAR points events at Daytona, with a best finish of fifth in the Truck Series event; the next week at Phoenix, Busch dominated the Truck Series race, and led every lap of the race in the Nationwide Series Bashas' Supermarkets 200. He was close to sweep all 3 races at Phoenix again, but Jeff Gordon overtook him with 9 laps to go and took the trophy. Busch swept the March weekend at Bristol, his second sweep of a Bristol weekend. On April 30, 2011, Busch won his third straight spring race at Richmond International Raceway, capturing his second win of the 2011 season.
  Following an on-track incident with Kevin Harvick during the Southern 500 on May 7, 2011, and a post-race scuffle that saw Busch push Harvick's unoccupied car on pit road with his car, Busch and Harvick were fined $25,000 and put on probation for four races, in addition to the Sprint All-Star Race. Following the Truck Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway, Busch became involved in an altercation with Richard Childress; Busch had bumped Childress' No. 22 truck, driven by Joey Coulter, on the race's cooldown lap, and according to witnesses about 30 minutes after the race Childress came up to Busch, put him in a head lock and started punching him. Childress had previously stated, following Busch's altercation with Harvick at Darlington, that he would consider it personal if Busch damaged another vehicle he owned; Childress was fined $150,000 for the incident, and placed on probation for the remainder of the year. Busch stated that the bump had been congratulatory, and that had he realised the resulting damage would upset Childress he would have paid for the repairs.
  Busch won the inaugural Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway on July 9, 2011 beating David Reutimann and Jimmie Johnson; at Watkins Glen in August, Busch led the most laps but lost the lead to Marcos Ambrose during a green-white-checkered finish. The following week Busch won the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, becoming the first driver that season to clinch a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
  On August 24, 2011, while competing in the Truck Series O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Busch was hit by the Joe Denette Motorsports truck of Elliott Sadler, sending him into the wall and causing severe damage to his truck, while waiting for the caution flag to be displayed, Busch drove rapidly around the track and hit Sadler, spinning him. Busch stated afterwards that Sadler, a regular driver for Kevin Harvick in the Nationwide Series, deliberately crashed him due to his connection with Harvick, who at the time was feuding with Busch in the Sprint Cup Series, Sadler and Harvick denied any connection, and no penalties were assessed for the incident.
  On August 26, 2011, Busch won the Nationwide Series Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway, surpassing Mark Martin for the most Nationwide series wins ever, with 50, and also simultaneously became the first driver to win three consecutive races at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Nationwide Series. The race also had the closest finish at Bristol in series history, 0.019 seconds over teammate Joey Logano.
caption: Busch's car during the 2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500
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