ESPN Sprint Cup

ESPN.com preseason rank: No. 4

2009 Outlook

With a shrug of youthful resignation, Kyle Busch acknowledges all the diagnoses and corrective measures taken at Joe Gibbs Racing, trying to prevent another season that breaks in two, plunging Busch out of dominance.

When he crumbled in the Chase due mainly to mechanical issues after an eight-win start last season, "You thought, 'Why us?'" he says. "But it's things beyond your control. What you do to change that is, nothing.

"You can look at trying to change your luck as much as you want, whether you want to put a four-leaf clover in your pocket or wear lucky underwear or whatever," Busch says. "It's the way it rolls sometimes. You can't change it."

With all the analysis done by everyone at JGR, from team owner Joe Gibbs himself to crew chief Steve Addington and all the engineers in between, does Busch have at least a little more hope of avoiding a disaster like last fall's?

"No, I mean there's always something. Whether it's a little five-cent part that breaks -- I mean, how many times have we seen in [it] this sport? There are going to be parts of the year that we have issues."

But there is a big part of last year that he doubts he will repeat -- his spectacular first half of the season.

"I think it's going to be less likely that we repeat that first half, the way the competition picked up, the way everyone's learned this car. I think we're capable of running strong and running up front, and finishing top three, top five every week. But you've got to have some sort of luck on your side. ... If you have a lot, you can win races."

2008 Review

As the No. 18 team roared through its hot streak, "We were close to where we needed to be, and we were settling for that," Addington reflects. "And those other guys worked and got their cars better, and we were a little bit behind." Plus there were the unforeseen mechanical failures that spoiled the Chase for the No. 18.

But, his brat image aside, Busch may have come of age through the ordeal. "It was bothering him," says Addington, "but he was the same kid every weekend with the guys on the team. He never pointed any fingers. He talked about what we needed to do to get better."

He has a shot at the title if: JGR's thorough analysis fixes all the tech glitches, from a broken sway bar bolt to a blown engine, that haunted the No. 18 team in the stretch run last year.

He won't win the title because: Busch is unlikely to get out as far ahead of the competition as he did last year, so setbacks could hurt him earlier.

-- Ed Hinton