Kyle Busch is currently on the outside looking in for the NASCAR playoffs. He hasn’t won a race in 46 attempts and sits 19th on the playoff grid, 106 points out of the field. His only chance to make the playoffs is to win the upcoming race at Darlington Raceway. With the pressure on him, will he make it to the top 16 this year?

At the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in Daytona, Kyle Busch missed out on driving into victory lane by just 0.047 seconds. An unexpected Harrison Burton overtake on the last lap crushed Busch’s dreams for the playoffs last weekend, but now the question stands: Will Kyle Busch win his first race in Darlington?

Kyle Busch reveals his strategy for racing in Darlington

One thing we need to know about Kyle Busch is that he holds the all-time record of having a win in 19 consecutive seasons. Sadly, this year it looks like that streak might end. Although he has all the chances of winning at Darlington, it will be a tough one, considering every driver outside the playoffs desperately wants a win.

During the pre-race interview, the No.8 Richard Childress Racing driver was asked if he thinks that strategy will help him win the race at Darlington. To this, he hesitantly responded, “Um, yes and no. I don’t know that you can really get a whole lot done here because of all the fall-off in tire wear and things like that, you know. I don’t.”

He explained the situation at Darlington, saying, “If you have a three-lap run, do you stay out? I don’t predict you’re going to be able to hold them off very long, so unless it’s a green-white-checker, which in that case, you’re probably going to get a few, as we tend to do this day and age.”

This explanation hints towards the issue of relying on strategy, as the situation he explained is extremely specific. Ultimately, he concluded the answer by revealing what his plans for the race are, saying, “So, I don’t know that you’ll be able to see a whole lot of different strategy plays. We’ll just have to have some outright raw speed and go get it.” 

The main issue with the Darlington Raceway is the fact that the aberration is quite high and the Goodyear tires face a lot of degradation. So strategies will come in handy, but ultimately, everyone’s tires will be giving up during the race.

Being fast is the most textbook way of winning races, and being an experienced driver with 2 decades of racing under his belt, he believes that pace is what he needs to make it to the playoffs.

How has Busch’s season been so far?

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Although Kyle Busch is dealing with a tough season, he still managed to get eight top-10 finishes this year. Ever since the Olympic break, he seems to have picked up the pace with a P12 at Richmond, followed by two top-5 finishes at Michigan and Daytona. P4 and P3 finish, respectively, mean that the slump of the early to mid-season is over.

While Kyle Busch has had some good finishes, it is his bad ones that keep him from the playoff seat that he is so familiar with. At races like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Bristol, he had a finish in the 20s and came in the 30s for 4 races this season. This highly affected his points this season, and this has become the reason for the NASCAR legend to not have a seat so far.

Considering his talent, do you think that Kyle Busch will bring in a surprise victory that will put him in the playoffs today? The pressure is on, and only time will tell what will happen. Until then, you can share your predictions for the race in the comments below.