DARLINGTON, S.C. — After getting passed by Harrison Burton on the final lap last Saturday (Aug. 24) at Daytona International Speedway, Kyle Busch had to settle for second place for the second straight week after being unable to run down Chase Briscoe in closing laps of Sunday’s (Sept. 1) Southern 500.
The sudden surge in performance was too little, too late for the No. 8 team, as Busch failed to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the first time since 2012.
Still, it was a valiant effort for Busch after enduring what can only be described as a nightmare summer stretch.
“We put ourselves in this position, and through much of that race, [I] didn’t think we had a shot to get ourselves a win and punch our way through,” Busch said. “But [fresh] tires there and having an opportunity also just put wind in our sails.”
Running for his first Southern 500 win since 2008, Busch quickly rocketed from the back half of the top 10 to second on the restart with 17 to go, but his progress stalled out the moment he reached Briscoe.
“Once I got in the wind of the No. 14 car, I couldn’t do anything with it,” Busch said. “Just lost too much grip and the wake on these things — [Briscoe] wasn’t blocking or anything, I just lost grip. That was all I had.”
With zero wins in the last 47 races — the longest drought of his Cup career — the frustration is there for Busch. And just as race car drivers say time and time again, finishing second sucks.
“I’ve gone back and looked at the stats, and the amount of second and third-place finishes I have in this Next Gen car is disgusting,” Busch said. “It’s really, really getting old and it really, really sucks that I can’t come out on top and get myself some more trophies and some more checkered flags for my team, team Chevy, all of our sponsors and everybody that supports us and gets us here.”
Since the start of 2022, Busch has four wins against 14 combined finishes of second and third. He is hungry to win and extend his consecutive season winning streak to 20, and he isn’t afraid of ruffling feathers in the final 10 races to do it.
“[Going for wins] is going to be our thing,” Busch said. “If we can chase some checkered flags, we might piss some people off in the mayhem of getting those.
“They don’t like it when you get guys on the outside winning races, especially when…
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