RICHMOND, Va. — The two-week break for the 2024 Summer Olympics couldn’t have come at a better time for Kyle Busch.
After earning the 12th starting position for Sunday’s Cook Out 400, the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet came to his interview obligation at the Richmond Raceway media center with his hand wrapped in an Ace bandage—the result of an accident July 21 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“Sprained it,” Busch said succinctly. “These great NextGen race cars snapped the wheel and snapped your wrist.”
The two-week break gave Busch time to recover.
“Without two weeks off, I would not have been able to race,” Busch said. “I’m good. I’m pretty good now.”
The same could be said for the entire RCR team, which showed up for practice and qualifying at Richmond with a level of speed that has eluded the organization in recent weeks.
Austin Dillon topped the speed chart in practice with an early lap on the red-labeled option tires NASCAR introduced into a Cup points race for the first time.
Dillon qualified sixth, and Busch was the last car bumped from the top five in Group B during the first round of time trials.
“We’ve made the top 10 a few times this year, but a lot of times we were right there on the brink of missing by one or two,” Busch said. “So that’s not too out-of-the-ordinary for us.
“The car felt pretty good, so hopefully we can keep that under us for the race.”
More than a good start, Busch needs a great finish. With four races left in the Cup Series regular season, he’s 19th in the Playoff standings, 112 points below the current cutoff.
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
