Richard Childress‘ reputation could have been at stake again this weekend. We all remember how Austin Dillon bumped and wrecked his way to win at Richmond. Since then, RCR has been involved in a spat with NASCAR over the penalty handed to Dillon that dented his playoff chances. There was a chance that Dillon’s teammate, Kyle Busch to try something at Daytona, however, he decided to show restraint and restore his team’s reputation.

At the Coke Zero Sugar 400, Rowdy came dangerously close to his redemption win. Daytona seemed to be his comeback venue as he led the drafting pack till the end. However, an unlikely rival snapped his chances on the last lap and robbed him of his playoff chance. Even so, Busch chose not to react and saved Childress another week of drama.

Kyle Busch keeps a cool head to avoid a repeat of the Austin Dillon scenario

Heading into the overtime restart, Busch was in the lead and on course for a first win of the season. He had his former JGR teammate Christopher Bell behind him to push him for the win with only two laps to go. However, Bell’s squirely actions allowed Harrison Burton a window of opportunity. The No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car made for a big run to get out clear and lead while receiving a push from Parker Retzlaff, an Xfinity regular.

Retzlaff was unable to overtake the #8, but Burton held off Busch for the remaining portion of the race. Racing toward the chequered flag, Busch tried hard and swayed left and right in search of an opening but to no avail. Coupled with an aerodynamic disadvantage, Kyle Busch could’ve tried to pull off something similar to what Austin Dillon did at Richmond. But he chose not to.

“Once we got to turn 4, there just wasn’t enough energy in our cars from behind me. I was relying on my own draft to try to pass the 21. That happened so slow that every Charles could walk that. So, besides wrecking him, nothing to do. I could have jumped up in front of the 21 and probably taken that, but I don’t know that he would have kept straight on me. I had more trust in the 20 there being a better ally, but didn’t work out.” Busch explained after having to settle for a P2 finish.

Busch did give a bump to Burton but didn’t go ahead with a full-on attempt to wreck Burton. The seasoned driver holding 63 Cup wins chose to be wise and let it go at the Coke Zero Sugar 400. After clinching second place, he explained that former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell acted up

Busch explained, “Yeah I mean, you’re wide open. You’re doing everything you can to rely on everything happening behind you. Unfortunately the 20, something happened off of 2 where he got squirreled up. It wasn’t to my rear bumper, he was probably on the line. I don’t know what was going on.”

It is a case of what could have been for Busch and the RCR team. The race saw 40 lead changes between 16 drivers, yet heading into overtime Busch was in command. A win at Daytona would’ve all but secured a playoff spot, but Busch heads into the final race of the season at Darlington, knowing only a win would suffice if he is to make the cut. While Busch chose not to take the high road, he was still frustrated with the outcome, given his position so close to the finish line.

“We didn’t make it to the finish line first. I’ve controlled I don’t know how many restarts here of late at the end of the races going into overtime and haven’t been able to complete the win. I don’t know what to do to make it better,” Busch mentioned after the race. While it leaves Busch and RCR with a tall order to make the playoffs, his actions would be considered an exercise in damage limitation, given the team is already at odds with NASCAR over Austin Dillon’s penalty following Richmond.

The chaotic final lap of the Cook Out 400 saw Richard Childress’ grandson shove Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin out of the way to clinch the victory. It has been thirty years since Childress touched a championship trophy, so he got carried away with the questionable victory. He publicly condoned Austin Dillon‘s actions, drawing the ire of NASCAR fans.

But it led to a NASCAR review and after three days of deliberation, they handed out a 25-point deduction to Dillon as well as the team. Moreover, Dillon’s win was allowed to stand but it was stated it won’t count toward the playoff standings, stripping him of an automatic berth. In response, RCR tweeted a statement that they were “disappointed” with NASCAR’s decision and would appeal the penalty.

However, on 21 August, the three-member NASCAR appeals panel upheld the original decision and penalty. Not backing down, RCR have decided to take the matter to the Final Appeal Officer. Bill Mullis, owner of Langley Speedway, will serve as the appeals officer and the chances of the initial decision being overturned are slim.

With the Coke Zero Sugar 400 done and dusted, Busch’s playoff chances are hanging by a thread – his last Darlington win was in 2008. Yet even Busch’s crew chief, Randall Burnett, seemed content with the finish, albeit admitting to the mistakes.

Has the RCR team found its momentum?

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It probably has, but may be a little late. Even then, progress does count, right? We remember the Michigan International Speedway run, where the No. 8 RCR team put up a stellar teamwork show. Kyle Busch started 13th but lingered around the top ten through Sunday and Monday. And towards the end, crew chief Randall Burnett made the crucial decision to send off his driver on two instead of four tires on a pit stop. That gave Busch a huge push for the lead, and he almost clinched a win. This time as well, the team’s performance was on point, albeit the last-lap slip of luck.

Burnett had faith in Christopher Bell giving Kyle Busch support, although it did not work out in the end. “It’s not a bad thing to have to pick first and start on the front row. We picked the bottom and the 20, we felt like he was going to be a good pusher. He picked behind us so we felt pretty good about that. It went OK the first lap and then we got gapped a little bit there, you know, and they built up a decent run. So we kind of lost all of our momentum there, but everybody did a great job tonight. Just (came) up a little short.”

Now that the team has only one regular season race left to make it into the playoffs, the tensions are high. Kyle Busch is on a war footing to maintain his playoff streak since 2012, and we wish him all the best!