Through the first 20 races of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, reigning champion Kyle Busch still does not have a win in the books, which continues to be the biggest on-track shocker of the year.
His and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team’s struggles are well-documented, and they continued Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where Busch had to call it quits after just 15 completed laps. The two-time NASCAR champ lost his right front tire and slammed into the Turn 3 wall at the 1.058-mile New England track, and his day was done.
“The fight that we’ve been having this year seems to be continuing,” Busch said while explaining he had no idea why they blew a tire so early in the race. “It’s still 2020, but sooner or later we have to turn this stuff around.”
It was the third race of the season Busch didn’t finish, and without a checkered flag, his title defense is not guaranteed. He’s currently 13th in the playoff standings and above the 16-driver cutoff, but he needs a victory to guarantee his shot at a third championship.
.@KyleBusch will have to wait another week for another chance to win in 2020.
He's out after crashing hard into the Turn 3 wall at @NHMS. @NASCAR is live on NBCSN: https://t.co/wKDI0aNMYn pic.twitter.com/WiGLgR7f6y
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 2, 2020
Brad Keselowski won Sunday’s race for his checkered flag of the season, while Busch crashing out early placed him dead last at 38th.
Despite eight top-5 finishes and 10 top-10s, Busch’s winless season is contrasted by the success of two of his teammates, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Hamlin’s had a particularly dominant season with five wins, while Truex only has one — but that’s obviously one more than Busch. Their fourth Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Erik Jones, is also winless in his fourth full-time season.
“He’s been pretty grumpy, to be honest with you,” Truex said with a chuckle when asked on a Zoom press conference about Busch voicing any frustrations in team meetings.
“They’ve had some tough luck for sure, and again today obviously. So Kyle’s a great competitor and a smart guy. He’s really not been too down on things. I think he knows that he’s got a great team, and they can overcome this. So he’s been a little bit grumpy at times, but for the most part, he’s been pretty typical Kyle.”
In mid-July after finishing second to Chase Elliott in the NASCAR All-Star Race, Busch addressed his team’s struggles and said its performance is not typical of Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. At the time, he said he has no explanation for why, adding: “There’s just no speed in our race cars for some reason.”
Just six races remain before the @NASCAR Playoffs field is determined!
Here's a look at the standings after Sunday's #Foxwoods301 at @NHMS. pic.twitter.com/yUiQlkdcBa
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 2, 2020
And after Sunday’s race at New Hampshire, Hamlin echoed that sentiment.
“It doesn’t take much: A bump in the road here and there, you find yourself getting off track pretty quick, and you start second-guessing what you do,” Hamlin said during his post-race Zoom call with reporters. “I’m not saying those guys are doing that, but I think our cars aren’t the fastest right now. I think everyone at JGR would say that we’ve got to get a little bit faster. …
“I think we get our cars a little faster, you’ll see better results from all of our teammates. I think Kyle is just kind of in a slump right now where things aren’t going his way. All the great drivers have had off years.”
The lack of practices certainly aren’t helping the struggling No. 18 team either. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, NASCAR is limiting teams’ time at the track, so that means no qualifying or practices, which offer drivers the chance to provide feedback and improve the cars.
Hamlin also pointed out that prior to winning the championship race in November at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Busch’s most recent checkered flag that season was in June of 2019. However, that victory at Pocono Raceway was still his fourth of five wins last season.
Truex agreed that on-track frustrations can snowball for teams. It can easily be a combination of performance issues and bad luck — keeping a talented driver out of Victory Lane, he said.
“[In] this sport, when it rains, it pours,” Truex said. “And when things aren’t going your way, it just seems like you can’t do anything right. I feel like they’ve been competitive, they’ve been strong, and they’ve just had a lot of weird things happen. I know exactly how he feels. I’ve been there many times.”
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