KANSAS CITY, Kans. — Kyle Busch was headed for his first win of the season, which would have given him a victory in a record extending 20th consecutive NASCAR Cup seasons, when he lost control of his car and spun while trying to lap Chase Briscoe with 32 laps left in the race.
Busch finished 19th. His career-long winless streak climbs to 51 races heading into next weekend’s event at Talladega Superspeedway.
“I’m numb, I don’t know what to do,” Busch told NBC Sports’ Parker Kligerman after the race.
Busch was approaching Briscoe as the went through Turn 2. Busch ran a lane above Briscoe and was near Briscoe’s right rear bumper when Busch’s car suddenly bounced off the wall and slid down the backstretch. Busch went on to finish eighth but never was close enough to challenge for the lead after that.
“I am sure he was racing to stay on the lead lap with whoever was in front of him there,” Busch said of Briscoe. “Granted they have a race to run, but back in the old days when you were under 30 to go or whatever it was, lap traffic would kind of lay over and give you a lane and let the leaders race. I just wasn’t getting that, so I tried to force my hand into getting that and get to his outside, and for whatever reason, it just gave all the air in all the wrong places and I spun out.”
Asked if he should have received extra consideration from Briscoe because he didn’t attempt to wreck Briscoe when they finished 1-2 in the Southern 500, Busch said: “It doesn’t matter what I expect. I don’t think anybody gives anyone anything anymore. It’s all take, take, take.”
Briscoe gave his take on the matter after the race.
“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,” Briscoe said. “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.”
Eventual winner Ross Chastain was running second to Busch at the time and explains what he saw in the incident.
"(Busch) fought the entire turns one and two,” Chastain said. “That lap he wrecked, he fought the entire turn to get outside of (Briscoe). That’s a spot that I didn’t believe was a vulnerable spot when this car first started, and I heard my amigo, Daniel, 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 (Busch) 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 (Briscoe) 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.”
Once Busch spun, Chastain had to take measures to avoid hitting him.
“I think I stayed more gas and hit the brake,” Chastain said. “As he spun, I just was happy that he spun to the left. If he spins back to the right, I probably pile drive him. At that point I’m committed. It was such a late spin off the exit, which is where we all hit the wall that I was already sliding.
“So it was just by chance. It was by the racing chance, the racing luck that I made it by.”
