Chase Briscoe winning the Darlington race on Sunday was nothing short of surprising. While the Stewart-Haas Racing driver made a stunning run to clinch his first win of the 2024 campaign, several factors came to his help. One of them included how Denny Hamlin approached with his tactics mid-race. With the Joe Gibbs Racing driver plotting to defeat Kyle Larson, he messed up Kyle Busch and his playoff dreams.

Busch and the Richard Childress Racing camp have had a forgettable 2024 season. While Rowdy is on a 47-race winless streak, the race at Darlington saw him miss the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Even his last-ditch run proved unfruitful in beating Chase Briscoe on Sunday. Having said that, it could all have been different had Denny Hamlin made a different call when he was running second in the race.

Denny Hamlin could have saved Kyle Busch from playoff misery with his Darlington decision-making

It is unfortunate how Kyle Busch ended as runner-up in the races at Daytona and Darlington yet failed to make it to the playoffs. While there is no denying that Rowdy made a strong case in the second half of the 2024 Cup Series regular season with his performances, it is the start this year that haunted him. With just five top-five and nine top-ten finishes, Busch never looked in fine touch.

Eventually, he finished just 0.361 seconds behind Chase Briscoe on Sunday, a pain difficult to digest. With such slim margins, it makes one wonder how small decisions impact such races in a big way. One such decision came from Denny Hamlin on Sunday. There came a moment in the final stage when Hamlin was racing second ahead of third-placed Briscoe and behind Kyle Larson.

While the JGR driver defined it as a key moment in the race, he spoke about how it influenced the race’s outcome. Speaking on the latest episode of his podcast ‘Actions Detrimental’, he said, “I had the second option to choose on the restart. Either the bottom front row or choose the top that, that, you know, for us that the numbers suggested that I needed to be fourth, so second car on the outside behind Larson when he restarted.”

Hamlin felt Briscoe looked stronger in the short run. At the same time, he felt his front side speed was his Achilles’ heel. While this prohibited him from getting a quick jump after the restarts, it lessened Hamlin’s chances of passing Kyle Larson. Keeping this in mind, the #11 driver chose the bottom, hoping Briscoe would give Larson a better fight.

Not only that, Hamlin hoped both Briscoe and Larson would fight intensely and allow him some room to make a pass. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for the 43-year-old. Instead, it eventually helped Chase Briscoe to make that amazing pass in the 342nd lap going three wide in Turn 3. Not only did Briscoe pass both Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain, but he also took the lead in the race.

Despite Kyle Busch trying his best in the dying laps to narrow the distance between him and Briscoe, the SHR driver looked unstoppable. Eventually, Busch lost his battle to qualify for the playoffs. Things could have been a lot different had Hamlin chosen the top row. Nevertheless, it was Briscoe’s day. He not only beat a dominant Kyle Larson but also a desperate and helpless Kyle Busch.

Kyle Busch tired of ‘disgusting’ results in the Next-Gen car following Darlington disappointment

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It is debatable if Denny Hamlin played a key role in Kyle Busch not winning at Darlington. Having said that, anything is possible on a Cup Series race track. While Busch failed to register a win, he never looked like a strong contender to win the race until the dying laps. Luckily, Rowdy has the maturity to accept the bitter, but true, scenario of his racing this year.

Speaking after the Darlington race to the media, he said, “It’s fine, you know; we put ourselves in this position. Through much of that race, I didn’t think we had a shot to get ourselves a win and punch our way through. But with the tires there at the end and having an opportunity, it just put wind in our sails.” A win on Sunday could not only have eliminated his long winless run but also changed the playoffs’ complexion.

Having said that, once he was behind Briscoe, he didn’t stand much of a chance. He said, “We put ourselves in this position, and through much of that race, didn’t think we had a shot to get ourselves a win and punch our way through. but tires there at the end, and having an opportunity also just put wind in our sails. But then once I got in the wind of the 14 car, I couldn’t do anything with it. You know, just lost too much grip and the wake on these things … he wasn’t blocking or anything, I just lost grip. That was all I had.”

While all is not negative for Busch. The RCR driver finished the regular season with three consecutive top-five finishes. Having finished runner-up in back-to-back races only added more frustration for Rowdy. He said, “A lot of people are stat people. I’ve gone back and looked at the stats, and the amount of second- and third-place finishes I have in this Next Gen car is disgusting.”

Since his last win in June 2023, Kyle Busch has finished second or third on seven different occasions. It is true how luck hasn’t favored the #8 driver in this campaign. That said, he still has the chance to win and maintain his terrific record of winning at least once every season since 2005. Without a doubt, it will be interesting to see how he approaches the playoffs.