At this point, Kyle Busch is just numb.
He lost the race at Atlanta in March by just thousands of a second, lost Daytona in August after leading the last lap, he came up just short to Chase Briscoe in the Southern 500 and now there was this figurative gut punch on Sunday at Kansas Speedway. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion led five times for 25 laps, looking every bit as capable as eventual winner Ross Chastain, but spinning from the lead in just a tremendously disappointing scenario.
Leading with 31 laps to go, Busch came across a struggling Chase Briscoe in 26th, who drifted high towards the wall with just enough lane to fit a car through and the two-time champion tried to wedge it through Turn 2.
Busch lost the nose, slapped the wall, and spun across the backstretch from the lead before blending back into the field just outside of the top-5 before the field was frozen.
“Just running ten-tenths all the time, trying to make up speed and cover (Ross Chastain) and make sure I could stay ahead of him,” Busch said of the incident. “The 14 turned down the hill in order to get clear air from the guy in front of him, so I went to his outside and plugged a hole and then just air… For some reason, I just felt nothing off the corner, and I hadn’t really had that like that the whole time.
“Busted my butt. I hate it for my guys and everybody at RCR and ECR. They deserved to get the win today. We hung underneath the 1 car there for 15 laps trying to pass him, finally passed him, and could get away from him a little bit, would catch a lap car, would back up a little bit, and the gap just kept doing that. I guess I just got in too big a hurry.”
It was a subdued, analytical response from a driver who historically would drop some kind of zinger in the quote but a season full of disappointment, including not making the playoffs for just the second time in his career, has left Busch despondent.
“I’m numb,” Busch said. “I don’t know what to do.”
For his part, Briscoe was just trying to stay on the lead lap, catch a caution and improve his playoff advancement odds on a day that had gone terribly wrong. Briscoe started ninth but immediately went backwards with a car that started way too tight and then got way too free.
“I haven’t seen it still but these cars are so sensitive when you are off to the right,” Briscoe said. “I couldn’t really run on the wall so I was trying to give him a car width and a couple inches and saw him get loose as soon as he got to my right rear. It didn’t feel like I was trying to do anything. I literally left him the top lane. These cars as soon as you get off to the right, especially here when you are running the wall, they just get really loose. I hate it for him. He has been so close all year long and I am a Kyle Busch fan and wanted to see him win to keep the streak alive. I hate that we are a part of the conversation.
“That was a really bad day for us. It was not what we needed, and certainly not what we wanted. We will go to work. We are 25 out but we can still do it, it just wasn’t the day we wanted, for sure.”
Chastain went onto win the race after passing Busch after he slapped the wall and said he was surprised Busch forced the issue, especially knowing how sensitive a car is passing on the outside.
“The 8 fought the entire turns one and two,” Chastain said. “That lap he wrecked, he fought the entire turn to get outside of the 14. That’s a spot that I didn’t believe was a vulnerable spot when this car first started, and I heard my amigo, Daniel (Suarez) tell me, I heard other Chevy drivers tell me, like, ‘Careful when you are on the right rear.’ Then I had it happen at Phoenix this year, and I finally was a believer.
“Yeah, when he spun, he was in the most vulnerable spot he could be to get loose, and he slapped the wall and spun out unforced. I mean, I couldn’t get back to him. He could have ridden behind him, but I was close enough I think that if I’m the leader and he’s in second, I’m trying to get by the 14 every chance I can get.
“Yeah, I was surprised to see him spin out because he could have ridden behind him and passed him in the next corner. I couldn’t get to him. I was already too loose.”
From that standpoint, it’s easier to understand why Busch was more frustrated with himself than Briscoe, because it wasn’t a move he had to make there.
Even though Busch did not qualify for the playoffs, he was still driven to win a race because he currently has the record for most consecutive seasons with a win at 19. He said that is the most important stat to him these days because it is a sign of his longevity.
Instead, his career long winless drought reached 51.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter