Did You Notice? … Kyle Busch is living through an all-out implosion, cratering less than two years after switching NASCAR Cup Series teams to Richard Childress Racing.
The latest calamity for Busch came at Pocono Raceway on Sunday (July 14) with his race coming to an end with a little extra help from Corey LaJoie entering turn 1.
Whether Busch blocked a little too much or LaJoie was a little too trigger happy is a whole other conversation altogether. Either way, the wreck simply put an ailing Busch out of his misery, spending much of the day a 30th-place car on speed.
The future NASCAR Hall of Fame driver appeared deflated, refusing to engage on any controversy surrounding LaJoie while exiting stage right as quickly as possible.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Busch said. “… Sometimes, some don’t lift. Kamikaze.”
Busch had the look and feel of a driver who’s mentally checked out. And why shouldn’t he be? Busch has endured five DNFs in his last seven starts, easily the worst stretch of his NASCAR career. The two-time Cup champion has spiraled downward from over 30 points above the playoff cut line when this began, after Memorial Day Weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, to over 100 points behind it.
Consider this trend: in 20 years of racing Cup full time, Busch has only had six seasons of five or more DNFs. Two of those six are now from his time with RCR, where he’s failed to finish a whopping 11 times in 57 starts (a DNF rate of 19%).
When Busch has avoided trouble, the speed just hasn’t been there. He has only two top-five finishes: a fourth at Dover Motor Speedway in May after winning the pole and a third (by inches) at Atlanta Motor Speedway back in February.
You wonder if the second race of the season might have been a game-changer for Busch. He led 28 laps and appeared to make the winning move on Ryan Blaney mere seconds from the finish line. But Daniel Suarez got to the outside of both of them, making it three-wide coming off turn 4, and the No. 99 car had just enough momentum to inch ahead.
If Busch prevailed there, he would have extended a NASCAR record streak of 20 straight seasons with a win. It would also have taken the pressure off a RCR outfit that’s struggling to keep up this season by securing them an early playoff spot with their pack racing program.
What a difference those few inches can make. Busch…
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