KANSAS CITY, Kan. — In a frustrating season for Kyle Busch that has featured untimely crashes, mechanical failures, lackluster speed and heartbreaking losses in photo finishes, there was a moment on Sunday (Sept. 29) at Kansas Speedway where a glimpse of light appeared at the end of the tunnel.
Busch started the race in third and remained a fixture in the top half of the field throughout the afternoon. Mixed strategy toward the end of the second stage split the field, and Busch was able to capitalize with track position at the beginning of the final stage.
Busch soon made his way to the lead after a lengthy, grueling battle with Ross Chastain, but he wasn’t able to pull away, as the two leaders remained separated by approximately a half-second.
With just under 35 laps to go, the No. 8 car was good on fuel and in complete control of the race. Winless this season with only seven races to go, Busch has desperately fought to break into victory lane and extend his record of consecutive NASCAR Cup Series seasons with a win to 20. Could Kansas finally be Busch’s race after so many near misses this season?
It wasn’t his race for long. Chastain kept applying the pressure, and Busch had to quickly navigate lapped traffic. He was trying to put Chase Briscoe a lap down with 32 to go and ran the high line through turns 1 and 2, but a tight squeeze by Briscoe at corner exit took the air away from Busch’s car. He then brushed the wall, lost control and spun out on the backstretch.
Busch only fell to seventh by the time the caution came out, and he made his way up to fifth on the first restart. But the second restart was where everything unraveled, and Busch limped home to a disappointing 19th-place finish.
“I tried to force my hand to get to [Briscoe’s] outside, and when I did, just for some reason, whatever happened, it just gave all the air in all the wrong place and spun out,” Busch said.
In the Southern 500 at the start of September, Busch was running down Briscoe with fresh tires in the closing laps, but he didn’t force the issue and make any overly aggressive moves. Briscoe went on to win and lock his spot into the playoffs, and Busch was asked if he expected more give from Briscoe given how he raced him a few months ago.
“I doesn’t matter what I expect,” Busch said. “I don’t think anybody gives anybody anything anymore. It’s all take, take, take.”
Kansas was a miserable race for Briscoe, as he finished 24th and was fighting to stay on the lead lap all day.
Regarding the incident with Busch, Briscoe said that he wasn’t going to hand him the position, but he also felt that he left the No. 8 car enough room.
“When he got to me, I was making sure he was tight, like I wasn’t just going to pull over and give it to him,” Briscoe said. “We’re still racing for staying on the lead lap, but I felt like I left him a car width and a couple inches.
“These cars are so sensitive, and I feel like especially at this track off of [turn] 2, if you’re off to somebody’s right rear, you get so loose, and it looked like that’s just what happened [to him].
“… I don’t feel like I did anything. It definitely wasn’t intentional; it was just one of those racing things. … I hate it for them … obviously he had a really good opportunity [to keep the streak alive]. Just unfortunate, hate that we were part of the conversation in that and hate that our day wasn’t any better.”
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf