BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Busch knew that he had one thing to do at Bristol Motor Speedway and that was to stay above the cutline to move on to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, however, the No.18 M&M’s Toyota Camry driver would be denied.
Busch would start the Bass Pro Shops Night Race in the 21st position and would fight a tight racecar until a caution would come out on Lap 43 and the Las Vegas, Nev. driver would come to the pits for tires and an air adjustment.
Over the radio, Busch informed his team that he could not run the bottom of the track at all.
Restarting in the 20th position, Busch would methodically drive his way up to the 10th position until the caution would fly once again on Lap 93. Telling the team that he was “stupid aero tight,” he would continue to stay out on the track for position.
Going three-wide into Turn 2, Busch would drive up to the third position where he would remain for the remainder of Stage 1.
Ahead of Stage 2, Busch instructed his team in preparation for a long green flag run, he would need adjustments. He described during the final laps of Stage 1 that his car was free in, and it felt like the tires are worn out.
Restarting 13th in Stage 2, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was not happy with the handling of his race car, “I don’t know if we need to take air out, but we need to go the other way.”
With the handling condition improving throughout Stage 2, he would finish fifth at the green-white-checkered flag earning five crucial stage points to help keep him above the cutline.
Launching Stage 3 at Lap 260, Busch would begin his march back through the field only to find trouble 10 laps later.
While screaming down the backstretch in Thunder Valley, the engine seized causing smoke to billow from the tailpipes of both sides of his racecar.
Busch coasted back to the garage area where he climbed from his machine with his helmet on and made a short trip through pit road to his race hauler – officially ending his night.
Even though Busch was out of the race, he initially still held a five-point advantage over Austin Cindric in the playoff standings until a multi-car accident would end the playoff hopes of both Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick.
Ultimately the elimination of both of the drivers put Busch in a precarious position.
Running 33rd at the time of his exit of the race, Busch would lose one more position to Ryan Blaney over the final stint of the race – leaving him 34th at the finish and two points behind Austin Cindric for being able to advance to the Round of 12.
“I don’t even know what to say,” said a deadpanned Kyle Busch after changing clothes. “I’m flabbergasted. I just feel so bad for my guys. They don’t deserve to be in this spot. They work too hard.”
After years of being able to avoid engine problems during his tenure at Joe Gibbs Racing, Bristol brought the second engine failure in three races after he opened up the Playoffs with a failure at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in September.
“We are too good of a group to be this low – down on the bottom, fighting for our lives just to make it through,” added Busch. “Two engine failures in three weeks, that will do it to you.
“I really feel bad for all of Rowdy Nation, everybody at M&M’s, Interstate Batteries, Rowdy Energy, all of the partners that get us going every week.
“This is not our normal.”
Follow Grace Krenrich on Twitter @Grace3140.
