By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
Loudon, N.H. – The NASCAR Cup Series saw the red flag displayed early into Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch who started the 301-lap race from the pole was leading, his teammate Martin Truex Jr. ran second, as the two Toyotas entered Turn 1 of The Magic Mile, a burst of rain led to Busch’s No. 18 backing into the wall.
As the rain picked up, the race was put under caution but then NASCAR opted to put the event under the red flag as the track was lost.
The red flag has been displayed after multiple cars, including the leader @KyleBusch, are involved in a wreck due to a wet racing surface at @NHMS. pic.twitter.com/Tvom4PMvV0
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 18, 2021
Busch sustained significant damage and said they never should’ve started racing to begin with.
“We started the race under a mist. It never should have gone green to begin with, but then it kept getting worse and worse lap overlap,” said Busch. “The lap before I went into (turn) one, and it shoved the nose really bad, and I was able to keep it under control. It wasn’t bad enough. The next time I went down there, hell, I lifted at the flag stand – maybe a little past the flag stand, don’t get too dramatic – and just backed it in. We’ve been talking about it for two laps that it was raining. There’s no sense in saying what I want to say, it doesn’t do you any good.”
With that said, Busch is done for the day and won’t content for a fourth trip to victory lane at The Magic Mile.
His teammate Truex Jr also found himself with damage as well. Teammate Denny Hamlin spun while running fifth, but he was fortunate enough and his No. 11 FedEx Toyota will be able to continue on.
Kyle Busch has seen plenty of success at the New England track. With 3 wins, 11 top-fives’ and 16 top-10 finishes in 29 starts. However, with the events of today and last year’s crash only 15 laps in; he will have to wait until 2022 to content for a win at Loudon again.
“We’re done, we’re going home. It’s over. There’s no fixing that thing,” said Busch.
Featured Photo Credit: Photo by NKP / NKP Photo