Kyle Busch nearly won his second Cup Series championship last season, but Martin Truex Jr. pulled away from him at Homestead and sent Busch to a second place finish.
Despite being so close to winning a title, Busch doesn't want to repeat last season. Mainly, he doesn't want a slow start to the year like he had in 2017.
Busch eventually won five races on the year, but he didn't win his first race until Pocono in July. He made it clear he wants a better start to the year in 2018.
"I don't think we would be any worse," Busch said according to AutoWeek. "I would like to think we'd be better.
"We started out the season a little bit on the slower side, if you will, last year with our new car.
"We were behind the eight-ball a little bit maybe."
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Busch had the speed all season long, and he battled Truex throughout the year. Truex was able to earn more stage points during the season, and it put pressure on Busch in the second half of the season.
He called losing at Homestead "painful" since he was so close and felt like he had the best car. If he can get off to a better start this season, he could have the rest of the field chasing him instead of Truex.
"Hopefully we can start out our year this year a little stronger than we did last year," Busch said.
Busch won the championship in 2015, and he made the Championship 4 in each of the last two seasons. He felt like he should've beaten Jimmie Johnson in 2016 and Truex in 2017, but he fell just short. He's the favorite to win the title in 2018 for a reason, and NASCAR fans can expect him in Victory Lane earlier this year.