Just when it looked like Kyle Busch might finally catch a break, everything went spinning out of control.
The two-time Cup Series champion has been mired in a nightmare season as he looks to extend a record-setting run of 19 consecutive seasons with at least one win.
It sure looked like that run would continue last Sunday at Kansas Speedway, but another late wreck foiled the NASCAR veteran’s chances at an elusive checkered flag.
Busch on Kansas loss: ‘Deserved to get the win today’
After qualifying third for last weekend’s race at Kansas, Busch took the lead on five separate occasions and appeared primed to end a 50-race winless streak.
He wrestled away the lead on lap 226 from Ross Chastain, the eventual winner, and held him off for 10 laps as he tried to navigate the traffic of cars a lap down.
That’s when he attempted to shoot the gap past Chase Briscoe – a playoff driver who wasn’t going to give up a free pass easily.
After the race, Busch said he didn’t feel any contact but lost control of his car as it spun into the wall and eventually forced him off the main track.
“Busted my butt. Hate it for my guys …” Busch said. “They deserved to get the win today.”
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Instead, Busch is now staring down a 51-race drought since his last trip to Victory Lane, and he’s running out of chances to keep his historic win streak alive.
He’s finished in second place twice in his last six races with three other top-fives on the season. But, time and time again, something goes wrong in the final few laps to cost the No. 8 team a chance at that first win of the season.
“I’m numb,” Busch said after the race. “I don’t know what to do.”
Briscoe after incident: ‘I want to see him win’
For those thinking that Briscoe intentionally wrecked Busch last Sunday, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The No. 14 driver deflected blame after the race and was even a bit perplexed as to how Busch spun out after Briscoe says he tried to leave a car width of space.
Briscoe, who sits 11th in the playoff standings after Kansas, said he tried to make sure Busch was tight around the turn and leave him just enough room to pass.
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Instead, Busch was squeezed to the wall and saw his day effectively ended by his incident with Briscoe. Busch finished 19th, while Briscoe finished 24th.
“I hate it for them,” Briscoe said. “I’m a Kyle Busch fan, I want to see him win and keep the streak alive.”
Those two will have a chance to settle their grievances on the track Sunday in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Busch qualified fourth at Talladega in April and led five laps but eventually finished 27th. He nearly won his last superspeedway race at Daytona before another late break against him resulted in a runner-up finish.
If Busch’s first win doesn’t come Sunday, he’ll only have five weeks to break through with his final chance coming Nov. 10 in the championship race at Phoenix Raceway.