If you’re a fan of Kyle Busch or Kevin Harvick, you’ve probably been a happy camper this NASCAR season. And if you’re not a fan of one of those two Cup series drivers, then it has probably irked you to see those two drivers win six each or a combined 12 of the first 21 races.
The 2018 season so far has proved to be a history-making one for Busch and Harvick.
This is only the third time in Cup history there have been multiple drivers with at least six wins this early in the season, and those two join some other solid duos.
Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison did it in 1982. Waltrip won 12 races, as well as the championship that season. Allison had eight wins and finished second in points. They combined to win 20 of the 30 total Cup races.
Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough were the other duo to make history, in 1974. That year, they each won 10 of the season’s 30 races, and Petty won the title over Yarborough. That year marked the last time multiple drivers have reached double-digit Cup victories in the same season.
The battle between Busch and Harvick is setting up to be one of the great arms races in NASCAR history. With a victory by either at Watkins Glen on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC), it’ll be the fewest races for a driver to reach seven wins in a season since Busch did it in 2008. The only other drivers to reach seven wins in 22 or fewer races since 1990 are Jeff Gordon (1997 and 1998) and Dale Earnhardt (1990).
It doesn’t take an advanced math degree (I should know, I don’t have one) to figure out that both drivers are on pace for 10 wins this season (10.285714 to be exact).
Just two drivers with at least seven wins is uncommon, too. We’re a decade removed from that last happening, in 2008, when Busch (eight wins) was joined by Carl Edwards (nine wins) and Jimmie Johnson (seven wins). Edwards won the Cup title that season.