Dover, Del. – In his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point’s race since returning from injuries sustained in the XFINITY Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Kyle Busch seemed assured a top-five finish in Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks.
But, the opportunity to capitalize on a strong car and make a significant gain in the championship standings were bitten when the Las Vegas, Nevada native crashed with XFINITY Series regular Brian Scott on Lap 376.
Busch was running third at the time of the crash, while Scott driving Joe Falk’s Circle Sport Racing No. 33 Chevrolet had just gone a lap down to race leader Kevin Harvick.
“I don’t know. I guess Brian (Scott) said his spotter didn’t say anything and he just chopped the corner and I was under him already and it just sucked me around,” offered Busch. “I hate it. I hate it for my guys. Man, we had a really good run going obviously — we ran in the top-five all day long.”
The extent of the damage put both drivers in the garage for the day, but more importantly the incident forces a bigger challenge for the Joe Gibbs Racing team and driver to make a charge at this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Of course, Busch still has to win a race before September’s fall race at Chicagoland Speedway, but the driver of the No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry has to be inside the top-30 when the checkered flag falls at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on September 12.
Leaving Dover with 36th in the unofficially running order, Busch only advanced one spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, now 168 markers behind 30th-place runner Justin Allgaier.
“Just hate it for the Skittles Camry and everybody at M&M Mars. This is a shame. This isn’t what we need, and we weren’t going to win today but it doesn’t help when you finish 40th.”
For Scott, the weekend was one he’d sure like to forget about. In Saturday’s XFINITY Series race, the former Monster Mile winner was collected in an early race accident and finished 36th.
Pit strategy put the Boise, Idaho native back on the lead lap, but ultimately a mistake on his part cost him a chance at bettering a 13th-place at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in March.
The Richard Childress Racing driver took to Twitter after the incident to apologize. “I apologize to @KyleBusch, his sponsors, his team, his fans, and all of JGR. 100% my fault, I didn’t know he was underneath me until 2 late.”
Busch now heads to Pocono, a demanding 2.5-mile triangle, a track where his best finish is twice, most recently in 2011. Ty Dillon will be in the No. 33 Circle Sport Racing Chevrolet in the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
