DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Two years ago, after a wreck in overtime dashed his Daytona 500 championship dreams, Kyle Busch had the late Dale Earnhardt on his mind.

He had his reasons why.

That year, at the conclusion of the 2023 Great American Race, Busch stood just outside Daytona International Speedway’s infield care center. His No. 8 car was busted. His face was red from heat and smoke and rage. He’d led the field going into Lap 200 and had a Richard Childress Racing teammate in Austin Dillon right next to him — but somehow, by vice of the unpredictability of the Daytona 500, he still couldn’t win the one that had long eluded him.

He forced a wry smile.

“It’s just par for the course,” he said at the time.

Twenty-five years before him, Earnhardt was in the same situation: so many Daytona 500s without a win. Twenty starts, to be exact. It was the only race The Intimidator couldn’t tame, a phenomenon that couldn’t be explained. But then came 1998, when Earnhardt finally won it, flinging that proverbial monkey off his back. He led the field on Lap 200 in 1998 and thus won the race under caution.

Busch wouldn’t be so lucky in 2023, however. Late-race cautions no longer awarded the leader with the checkered flag; cautions, under modern rules, prompt overtime. In essence, if Busch was racing under the same rules Earnhardt had, he would’ve won in 2023, he said.

He wasn’t racing under those rules, though.

And thus he didn’t win.

“I think this was the first time I led Lap 200 here,” Busch continued after that 2023 race. “I wish it was 1998 rules.”

A lot of time has passed since then. Two full seasons, specifically. And yet, on the Wednesday before NASCAR’s biggest race at Daytona International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Fox), Busch again had Earnhardt on his mind. And who could blame him? It was one of the first questions the driver of the No. 8 Cup car was asked during NASCAR’s media day — especially considering Sunday will mark Busch’s 20th Daytona 500 start.

“That was a pretty big deal, and you know he was a former RCR driver as well,” Busch said of Earnhardt. “So it’d certainly be nice to win that race and do it with RCR and the No. 8 Chevrolet. It would be pretty cool.”

“Pretty cool,” for what it’s worth, is a huge understatement.

The parallels between the late Earnhardt and Busch are staggering, beyond the fact that Busch, 39, will be making his 20th start at Daytona. Among the most prominent similarities: Busch now drives for Richard Childress Racing; Earnhardt won seven championships for RCR. Busch and Earnhardt share a spiritual take-no-prisoners driving style that made them pitch-perfect antiheroes on the the racetrack — it’s part of what made team owner Richard Childress intrigued by the idea of hiring Busch back in September 2022.

The many close calls for Busch mirror that of Earnhardt’s career, too.

“It’s a lot of a chess match in trying to make sure that you put yourself in the right positions to get yourself up front when it matters most,” Busch said. “Two years ago, we led mile marker 500, but unfortunately we were coming to the yellow. Been there. Been close. Finished second, finished third, finished fourth.”

He paused and smiled: “There’s definitely some angst over trying to win this one.”

Why the angst?

Because it might not be easy to win this one.

For one, Busch is in the twilight of his career. He’s coming off the first winless NASCAR Cup Series season in his career. This ended his NASCAR all-time most seasons with a win at 19.

For another, and by his own admission, Busch isn’t a superspeedway specialist. He’s best on intermediate ovals and consistent pretty much everywhere else, whether that be short tracks or dirt tracks or wherever. And though he’s performed better at superspeedways as of late — he notched a P7 in Atlanta last fall and a P2 in Daytona last summer and even a win at Talladega last fall — his feelings toward the biggest racetracks haven’t improved much.

“It’s probably an 80 percent luck, 20 percent skill race, you know?” Busch said. “Others would disagree, but I feel like you definitely have to have a lot of the things go your way, and have the stars align and being able to lead off the final pit stop is certainly going to put yourself in a really good position.”

He was in that position earlier, of course. Two years ago, to be precise.

That year he referenced Earnhardt in frustration.

This year, with everything aligning, he’s hoping to do so in elation instead.

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