BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Busch may have had the fastest car at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Saturday night, but a late-race speeding penalty haunted the Joe Gibbs Racing driver who had to settle for eighth after starting second in the IRWIN Tools Night Race.
Confusion erupted in Busch’s pit stall, as NASCAR stated that the driver of the No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry sped in section five, the location of their pit box during the final round of pit stops.
Despite a valid argument by crew chief Adam Stevens, NASCAR later corrected it to section six, but no matter what section the penalty occurred, Busch’s charge from the back of the field to the front would be nearly impossible with 63 laps left.
Hoping for a caution during the winding laps at the 0.533-mile oval, Busch never received the yellow he was looking for, yet had to hustle through the field to stay on the lead lap.
Restarting 13th, the Las Vegas, Nevada native was able to finagle lapped traffic and catch the tail end of the lead-lap cars, pass five of them and secure his sixth top-10 finish of 2015 in 12 races.
“They (NASCAR) told us that we were speeding in section five – our pit box is in section five,” said Stevens after the race. “You can’t speed if you’re stopped on pit road. That could have just been – maybe they meant to say a different number, I don’t know, but there is no earthly way that you can speed in the segment that your pit stall is in, it’s not possible.”
With four wins in 2015, Busch remains Chase-eligible and sits 29th in the championship standings with a 46 point cushion over 31st-place runner Cole Whitt with two races remaining in the regular Sprint Cup season.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
