Kyle Busch lost control of his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and, with it, a chance to contend for the victory at Kansas Speedway.
Busch led the Hollywood Casino 400 with 32 laps to go when he closed on NASCAR Cup Series playoff contender Chase Briscoe through Turn 2. At the exit of the corner, Busch stayed with the high lane as his path to the outside of Briscoe but got loose, hit the wall, and then spun down the backstretch.
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The No. 14 was running 26th and trying to stay on the lead lap. Busch lost the lead but stayed inside the top 10 at the time of the caution freezing the field, but he never led again and fell to a 19th-place finish.
“[I was] just running ten-tenths all the time, trying to make up speed and cover the [No.] 1 car and make sure I could stay ahead of him,” Busch said of the incident. “The [No.] 14 turned down the hill in order to get clear air from the guy in front of him, so I went to his outside and plugged a hole and then just air… For some reason, I just felt nothing off the corner, and I hadn’t really had that like that the whole time.
“Busted my butt. I hate it for my guys and everybody at RCR and ECR. They deserved to get the win today. We hung underneath the [No.] 1 car there for 15 laps trying to pass him, finally passed him, and could get away from him a little bit, would catch a lap car, would back up a little bit, and the gap just kept doing that. I guess I just got in too big a hurry.”
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Although Busch understood that Briscoe had his own race to run, the two-time series champion acknowledged there used to be days when lapped traffic would yield to the leader as the race wound down. Busch felt he wasn’t given a lane, which resulted in trying to force his hand into getting to the outside.
Briscoe finished 24th. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was not a factor in Sunday’s race, earning an average running position of 22.5 and falling further behind on the playoff grid to 25 points out of a transfer spot.
There was no contact between the two in the incident, but Briscoe said, “These cars are so sensitive when you are off to the right.” He couldn’t run up against the wall like Busch and the leaders, so he tried to give Busch at least a car width of space.
“[I] saw him get loose as soon as he got to my right rear,” Briscoe said. “It didn’t feel like I was trying to do anything. I literally left him the top lane. These cars, as soon as you get off to the right, especially here when you are running the wall, they just get really loose. I hate it for him. He has been so close all year long and I am a Kyle Busch fan and wanted to see him win to keep the streak alive. I hate that we are a part of the conversation.”
Busch has won at least one race each season since becoming a full-time Cup Series driver in 2005. A victory before the end of the season would push the streak to 20 consecutive seasons.
“I’m numb,” Busch said. “I don’t know what to do.”