Kyle Busch was visibly upset after spinning out from the lead with 31 laps remaining, missing his chance to break a 50-race winless streak in Kansas. During an intense duel with Ross Chastain, Busch lost control at the exit of Turn 2 while trying to navigate around Chase Briscoe, a playoff contender fighting to stay on the lead lap.
Having worked hard to overtake Chastain earlier in the race, Busch's hopes of victory slipped away once again, leaving him to finish a disappointing 19th. This setback is particularly stinging for him, as he was in a strong position to win the Southern 500 at Darlington, only to lose out to Briscoe, who ultimately secured a playoff spot while Busch missed the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. Notably, Busch is the only driver in NASCAR history to win at least one Cup race for 19 consecutive seasons, and he has six races left to extend that streak to 20.
"I am sure he was racing to stay on the lead lap with whoever was in front of him there. 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," said Busch after the race.
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He was also asked about the incident as the cars never actually touched to which he replied "I guess I just got into too big a hurry, just air," he said.
Truex finished third, followed by playoff drivers Ryan Blaney and Ty Gibbs. Byron’s Hendrick teammate and Alex Bowman came home sixth, with Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Christopher Bell in seventh and Denny Hamlin in seventh and eighth, respectively.
Ross Chastain capitalizing on the advantage given by Busch went on to win the race. Chastain scored his first win of the season and the fifth of his Cup career
"I'm numb. I don't know what to do," Busch added on the loss.
"It doesn’t matter what I expect. I don’t think anybody gives anyone anything anymore. It’s all take, take, take," said Busch on if he expected some courtesy from Briscoe
Chase Briscoe too reacted to the incident
"But these cars, they’re so sensitive. I couldn’t really run on the wall, so I was trying to just make it where we had a car width and a couple of inches, and I saw him get loose as soon as he got to my right rear. It was unfortunate. Definitely, it didn’t feel like I was trying to do anything, I was trying literally to leave him the top lane. So, yeah, these cars, just as soon as you get off to the right, especially here when you’re running the wall, they just get really, really loose. I hate it for him. He’s been so close all year long, and I’m a Kyle Busch fan. So I wanted to see him keep the streak alive. I hate that we were part of the conversation," said the Stewart-Haas Racing driver.
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