By Cole Cusumano, Staff Writer
For only the fourth time in Kyle Busch’s illustrious career, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion won’t be racing for another title. In what’s been a career-worst year for the second-year Richard Childress Racing driver, the odds were heavily stacked against him entering the regular-season finale, but he and the No. 8 team strung together a semi-successful last-ditch effort in one of “Rowdy’s” best performances of the year.
Going into the CookOut Southern 500 crown-jewel event at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, the veteran from Las Vegas, Nev. understood he had to approach one of the most grueling tracks on the circuit with a “win or go home” mentality, sitting an insurmountable 106 points back from the cutoff. However, given RCR’s recent resurgence since the Olympic break, a walk-off victory wasn’t out of the question.
Austin Dillon stunned the competition in controversial fashion with a win at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, while his teammate finished a respectable 12th-place. In the two weeks to follow, Busch would end up catching fire by scoring back-to-back top fives for the first time all season – something he’d already done twice at this point in 2023 – including a runner-up finish at Daytona Int’l Speedway by 0.047 seconds to Harrison Burton.
Starting 17th with momentum on his side, Busch was essentially a non-factor throughout the opening two stages, but his top-15 average-running position kept him in the fight, and was much more encouraging than his 27th-place outing back in May. With the laps winding down, cautions became more frequent in a race that only saw one yellow on the fourth-lap of the evening outside of the stage breaks, giving the No. 8 team a shot at a “Hail Mary.”
With 50 to go, Busch broke inside the top-10 for the first time, courtesy of a more-than-respectable pit stop from his crew. Between two cautions, he then firmly asserted himself into the top-five and as a legitimate contender for the win. When the seventh and final yellow came out with 25 laps remaining, they decided to take their chance.
While leaders Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson opted to stay on track, along with six others, Busch pitted for fuel and four fresh tires. Restarting 10th with 17 to go and nine-lap better tires than the front runners, he effortlessly wheeled his way around the dominant No. 5 into the second-spot, which is where he would stall out once the checkered-flag waved.
Busch may be leaving Darlington with back-to-back runner-up finishes (and three-straight top fives), but the 0.361-second gap to race winner Briscoe will be what haunts him and eliminates him from playoff contention for the first time since 2012.
“When I made it through a few of those guys right there on the (restart), I thought we had a shot to get there,” Busch said. “I think I just needed (Briscoe) to have maybe three or four more laps older tires for me to be able to break through the wake. Once I got within his air, I really didn’t have enough to power through that, to get closer. I was kind of sliding already.
“Hate it for our guys, everybody on our team, everybody at RCR. This Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet, they turned it around these last four, five weeks and we’ve run a lot better. That’s been much improved, beneficial to our team and the organization.
“Something to build on and get better for,” Busch added. “We just missed a lot in the early part of the year, through the middle part of the year, to put ourselves in this spot … to come in here for a last-ditch effort and have a shot. Early in the race, I wouldn’t have thought we had a shot. So (I) felt like we really overachieved towards the end and got a really good finish for what we had or what I thought we had. We’ll take that and keep building on it.”
Busch may not be in contention for his third title, but the winningest driver in NASCAR national series history can now shift his focus in the final 10 races to extending a career-long win streak at the sport’s top level.
Going back to his rookie season in 2005, Busch has won at least one race in all 19 of his full-time campaigns. At 39 years old and in the waning stages of his 20th season, things won’t get much easier with the playoffs in full effect, but signs do point to a potential victory.
Through 26 starts, nine top 10s and 168 laps led are career-worst numbers for Busch, while his 17.4 average is second-worst outside of his rookie campaign. But keep in mind: he’s in the midst of his most successful stretch this season with three consecutive top fives, including back-to-back runner-up finishes.
If that wasn’t enough, the Round of 16 opens up at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, where only 0.007 seconds separated him from a third-place finish and the win back in February. While all eyes may be on the postseason drivers and the hunt for the championship, don’t count out Busch as a potential spoiler on any given Sunday.
“Maybe I am a washed up old dog, but hopefully I can find a few more trophies,” Busch said. “I wanted it last week. I wanted it this week … There’s been a lot of opportunities … I can count ’em at least on a hand. Maybe I need two hands to count opportunities that have slipped away. We’re achieving right now and getting success from those runs and pulling into finishes that we need.”