It was an unexpected sight in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, one not seen by the latest generation of fans.
NASCAR's premier event, the Daytona 500, running without a Busch brother in the field. Not because one had crashed out of the race early. Not because they were idled by mechanical failure or one of the myriad issues that can sideline a driver on this fast, restrictor-plate track.
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No, the 2015 Daytona 500 took the green flag without 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch or Kyle Busch, winner of 29 Cup races in the 10 previous Cup seasons.
Kurt Busch was suspended by NASCAR for actions detrimental to the sport two days before the race. Kyle Busch was in a hospital dealing with injuries from a crash the previous day.
Kurt Busch's suspension came after a family court report on a September 2014 incident between he and former girlfriend Patricia Driscoll in a case in which the Delaware attorney general later declined to file charges. After missing three races, he was reinstated when he agreed to NASCAR's requirements and it was announced there would be no charges in the case.
Then he turned his focus to the track, winning two Cup races over the remainder of the season.
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Kyle Busch, meanwhile, was fighting his own off-track battle. He had a broken right leg and left foot from a crash in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona the day before the 500. He spent the spring recovering and returned for the 12th race of the season.
Both Busches were granted waivers of NASCAR's requirement that a driver attempt each race in order to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup; both made the championship field, with Kyle going on to win the Sprint Cup.
Thoughts of a championship seemed dim for both that Sunday at Daytona.
A year later, Kurt Busch seems focused on the future and motivated to win a restrictor-plate race for the first time. That drive to win Sunday's Daytona 500 comes from more than missing it last season, too. Busch has always run well on these high-banked tracks that feature swarms of cars running in tight-knit packs. He's never won a points race at Daytona or sister track Talladega Superspeedway.
He has come close, however. He has 12 top five finishes at Daytona, six at Talladega.
Kyle Busch has a Cup win at each track, but he hasn't won the Daytona 500.
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Asked if he felt like he had a "reset" coming back to Daytona, Kurt Busch was succinct.
"I just felt like the rug was wiped out from underneath me," he told reporters, later saying he did not watch last year's race. "And we're back. We're here with a good shot at winning. I was here with a good shot at winning last year. This is more for making up for lost time."
Now, he's hoping to finally make this track give him what he must feel he's owed after so many strong finishes.
"I finished second three times," he said. "That's where it owes me something. I feel like the first few times when I did finish second was, I've got more to learn, I've got more to do, more things to understand about the race. Then the year I helped (then-Penske teammate) Ryan Newman win (the 500), that was my maturity as well as experience level combining for that decision to push him instead of trying to take a risk to go three-wide to take the win away from us both. So that was a big moment.
"Just haven't had cars that were capable of winning through the early 2010s. I think this year is the best year I've ever had with Tony Gibson, this whole Haas Automation and Monster Energy crew."
He speaks like a man determined to finally best this track, to prove that his restrictor-plate prowess can push him to the win.
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He says he has run conservatively at Daytona in the past; now he's just chasing that trophy.
And with the race on the line, and the need to work with someone for the win, he knows exactly who he trusts.
"At the end every man is for himself," he said. "You do trust teammates. I would trust Kyle, my brother for life, here. The way that it all works out here is every man is racing for himself."
That will be true of his brother, to an extent, as well. Kyle Busch must also feel that this track owes him. After his grueling fight back from injury last season — and his battle into the top 30 to be eligible for the Chase — he heads to Daytona free from worry about making up ground.
Now he just has to think about defending that Cup title. And finally winning the Daytona 500.
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Things could certainly be much worse.
"It was not quite the way we would have wanted to start a season here last time around 365 days ago, but things obviously turned the corner well," Kyle Busch says. "Was able to get through rehab and get back in the racecar and then go through the season, win some races — three in a row at one point — my first Brickyard 400 and now to be Sprint Cup Series champion at the end of the season was pretty spectacular as well. We'd love nothing more than to continue on our championship celebration all the way through this weekend here in winning a Daytona 500 as well."
He lists winning the Daytona 500 among the next things he'd like to accomplish. Well, that and the Coca-Cola 600, the All-Star race, a win at every track on the circuit …
Clearly, despite being the newly minted champion, Kyle Busch still has many goals in mind.
He'd like to check one more thing off his list Sunday.
He recognizes the competition for that is stiff. At least he and his brother will both have a shot at it this weekend.
"I don't have a Daytona 500 trophy, but I've got a great team behind me that's going to help give me that best effort," Kurt Busch said. "This is that year. I'm feeling it."