By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Though Kyle Busch ended the Brickyard 400 in the eighth spot, he left with a trophy.
As Indianapolis Motor Speedway stood as the regular-season finale, Busch earned the regular-season championship, beating Kevin Harvick by 41 points for the honor.
With a five-point bonus, he also left with a sporty trophy, one that son Brexton will enjoy having back at home.
“It’s already a place we can stash more toys,” Busch said.
However, though there are positives to take from Monday’s rain-postponed race, Busch leaves with more disappointment than happiness.
Starting from pole after qualifying was rained out Saturday, Busch appeared to be the quick guy of the day, leading the opening 11 laps. But it soon went away, as track position trumped strategy from the mid-race runs all the way to the checkered flag.
Busch led 27 laps on the day but was out-positioned by the likes of Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski, who eventually fought for the race win.
“Given our day, it’s good to even come home with a top-10 finish,” Busch said. “Kind of a frustrating day here at Indy, we’re used to running better the last few years.”
Indeed, after winning the 400 in both 2015 and ’16, Busch dominated last year’s running before a crash with Martin Truex Jr. ended it early. This year, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was just off from grabbing a third Indy victory.
“We passed better than most other guys but we still struggled pretty bad in traffic,” he said. “We couldn’t pass as easily as in years past. Definitely fought some things today we weren’t ready for. It was a lot of downs today.”
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With Keselowski earning his second consecutive victory based on some form of pit strategy/performance, Busch was not happy with Monday’s finish given the over-importance of track position.
“It’s all luck, no skill,” he said. “You get yourself in position, you try to pass, try to hold off the guys behind you. If you’re in the right spot when it single-files out, then that’s where you’re going to be. Restarts are chaos.
“I think you’ve seen it the last two weeks. The guy who has been able to maximize his opportunities. They’ve had better tires, track position and winning the races off pit road… but they’re winning the races so that’s all that matters.”
Through the last of 10 cautions on the day, Kevin Harvick emerged to finish fifth. With Busch in eighth, the final of the “Big Three” in Martin Truex Jr. fell out early with a brake rotor failure. Now with the playoffs set to begin in less than a week, Busch doesn’t doubt the entrance of a new contender for the 2018 title.
“There has been a strong push from all of us,” he said. “We’ve seen the Hendrick cars getting better the last few months, they struggled today. The Penske cars, especially the last two weeks, have been really, really fast. Given what we’re seeing, it’s open.
“The “Big Three” hasn’t died off any but I would say we can hopefully continue our strength.
“We’re not running top three every day, every race. Our average running position is not where it needs to be. We need to get ourselves further up the ladder.”