By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
Despite winning his first stage of the season and leading 128 of the 312 laps in the Ticket Guardian 500, Kyle Busch leaves ISM Raceway with another frustrating second-place finish.
Busch started the third stage with the race lead until he was passed by Kevin Harvick on Lap 179. When the caution flew for an accident involving Paul Menard, Busch made his way down pit road to address tight conditions on the front of the car and loose conditions in the rear of the car.
As the run progressed when the race restarted on lap 198, Busch found himself in an intense battle in the lead with Harvick and Denny Hamlin. Busch was able to garner the race lead until the final pit stop on lap 256.
During that stop, the car fell off the jack slowing the stop down and ultimaly gave Harvick the lead back. Busch believes that mistake cost them the win. Busch also believes that his and Harvick’s car were evenly matched throughout the race.
“He (Kevin Harvick) was four tenths better than everybody last week and today I thought we were evenly matched, if not and if roles were reversed, we could have won this thing. I guess our day wasn’t meant to be today, we had trouble on a pit stop and that’s what cost us.”
Despite the early showing of strength from Harvick and his team, Busch shows no signs of concern about the dominance.
“They’re certainly good, they have kind of picked up right where they left off and we beat them at Homestead. They’ve been right there each and every week so far. You’ve gone to three of arguably his best race tracks these past three weeks. They got the job done where they needed to – ask me again in August, not next week,” he stated.
With his finish at ISM Raceway, Busch sits second in the points standings just 12 points behind Harvick.