With only 6 races left before the season ends, Kyle Busch is not where he would like to be in the standings. The man with 2 Cup Series Champion titles is in a tough position. 2024 is probably one of his worst seasons to date, but there is still time for him to change things around. Busch has been winless all season and if he finishes the year without one, it will be the first time after 19 years of Cup Series racing that he has not won a single race in a season.
It must be frustrating for Busch, as he has been inches away from victory on more than one occasion, only to lose it all in the end. At Kansas, a spin-out was what took him out of the lead and became the reason he finished 19th, and many key figures from NASCAR are discussing the incident. So what caused Kyle Busch to spin out at Kansas?
Kyle Busch’s impatience gets the best of him
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Kyle Busch was in a more comfortable lead from the rest of the grid. However, he did have one problem that was closing in on him. It was Ross Chastain’s No. 1 car that was on his tail and Busch couldn’t seem to shake him off. While battling the Trackhouse Racing star boy, Busch tried to lap Chase Briscoe during stage 3. On lap 235, Busch wanted to overtake the SHR driver; however, some bad judgment and uncontrollable aerodynamics threw the RCR legend into the wall.
Kevin Harvick was one of the many people to discuss this at length and he did so on his podcast, Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. During the podcast, the hosts spoke about how Chase Briscoe had a chance to let Kyle Busch take the lead, but instead, he blocked the 39-year-old.
Harvick spoke on his podcast about the spinout that threw Kyle Busch out of the lead, saying, “I think that Kyle is so wound up about trying to get that car into victory lane and pressing the issue. With the old car, you could press the issue, and that was part of what made Kyle Busch so good. You could press the issue, slide the car around, take chances, and do things. But with this car, you press the issue, and if you get in certain situations, the car spins out. And we’ve seen that happen to Kyle so many times.”
According to Kevin Harvick’s understanding of the Next Gen car, it was the fact that Busch is not yet comfortable with how the car drivers. The former NASCAR driver noticed Busch’s desperation to win a race, and that’s what put him in a position to lose everything. Harvick explained, “I think he’s in such a big hurry to try to make something happen, but you can’t make it happen. There was nowhere for those guys. Ross was not going anywhere. “
Harvick’s verdict as to why Busch tried such a risky move and failed was because of his impatience. There were still quite a few laps left for the race, and as Harvick stated, “I think he gets impatient in these situations because he wants to make it happen so freaking bad, right? And he winds up getting himself in more trouble by forcing the issue than just letting it play out. It would have still been better off if the 1 car got beside him, yeah, for sure, and they had to wait another corner.”
Harvick joined his co-hosts in discussing how Busch has been at the brink of winning, only to lose it all in just one moment. This year ruined Busch’s record of being in the playoffs 11 times in a row, and now what Busch has to do is make sure that his record of winning every year for almost 2 decades stays untouched. It was expected that Busch would not be happy with how things turned out after the race and so, he did not have much to say about the race.
Kyle Busch goes numb after missing out on the Kansas win
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Busch felt the pressure of having Ross Chastain on his tail. In the head of the moment, the veteran made some impulsive decisions, and that cost him and the team heavily. After such a defeat while attempting to put Chase Briscoe behind, Busch was stormed by the media after the race. In the post-race interviews, Busch spoke about Briscoe and said, “I am sure he was racing to stay on the lead lap with whoever was in front of him there.”
Kyle Busch spoke about how in the older days, drivers who were about to get lapped would make way for the race leader who was about to lap them. When Busch said that Chase Briscoe was not interested in giving up his spot, he took matters into his own hands. However, it was the RCR driver’s miscalculation that sent him into a wall. Walking out of Kansas, Busch did not have much more to say except to explain the incidents on the track.
“I’m numb. I don’t know what to do,” said the defeated two-time champion as hopes of winning a race slipped out of his hands once again. So far, everything looks good from his team’s end. Even his car is fast enough to be a consistent front-runner. All that Busch lacks is consistency and the ability to finish a race while keeping his lead. Watching Busch lose a winning race has become a norm this season. Hopefully, he will manage to redeem himself in the coming 6 races.
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Do you think that there is light at the end of Kyle Busch’s dark tunnel of a season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Is Kyle Busch's impatience the real reason behind his NASCAR struggles? Harvick seems to think so!
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Is Kyle Busch's impatience the real reason behind his NASCAR struggles? Harvick seems to think so!
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