Kyle Busch is one of the best drivers in NASCAR history, but he’s mired in the worst season of his career.
The two-time Cup Series champion has won 63 races in his career, most among active drivers and ninth-most in NASCAR history. He’s won at least one race in 19 consecutive seasons, the longest streak of all time.
Yet he entered Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway with zero wins in his previous 45 races, and he’s in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
He emerged from the chaos of the “Big One” with a chance to capture the checkered flag on Saturday. That’s when, once again, it all went wrong for the No. 8.
Busch finishes 2nd at Daytona, misses playoff clincher
Busch had a chance to end his winless rut Saturday as he led the field around the final lap at Daytona, a place he’s taken the checkered flag just once in his storied NASCAR career.
That’s when Harrison Burton – who had never won a Cup Series race in 97 career starts – made a daring move to pass the two-time champion and hold him off for the win.
READ MORE: NASCAR announcer reacts live to son winning 1st career race at Daytona
It was a joyous moment for Burton and his father, Jeff Burton, who called the race for NBC. But it was yet another heartbreaking moment for Busch and his team in a season full of them.
After the race, Busch seemed almost stunned with the result. He said repeatedly “it’s
all good” and that he was “really, really, really lucky” to finish second – even if it means another missed opportunity to pick up his first win of the season.
“With as little energy as there was … it was hard to make anything from Turn 4 to start finish,” he said. “Besides just flat-out wrecking him, there was nothing else I could do.”
Busch after heartbreaking loss: ‘It is what it is’
Busch told reporters after the race that “we did a lot of things right” to secure the team’s best finish of the season, but it still extends his winless streak to 46 races.
The legendary driver said he could have tried to jump in front of Burton and ride his momentum to Victory Lane, but he wasn’t sure the Ford driver would have “kept straight on me” and given a fair push to the end.
Instead, he opted to trust veteran Christopher Bell in the bottom lane, which lost momentum down the stretch to give Burton the window to pass him.
“I had more trust in the 20 there being a better ally,” Busch said, “but it didn’t work out.”
Once Busch lost the push from the bottom line, his only real shot to victory would have been to dump Burton on the final turn – much like what Austin Dillon did two weeks ago at Richmond, a move that drew the ire of NASCAR.
READ MORE: NASCAR president says Austin Dillon ‘crossed the line’ at Richmond: ‘We’re not demolition derby’
Busch said there was clearly a “right way and a wrong way” to finish the race, and he says he didn’t give much thought to wrecking the 23-year-old in what ended up being his first career win.
“I certainly could have made it work for me doing it the wrong way, but we got what we got,” Busch told reporters after the race.
“It is what it is, bro. We got beat. We lost. We didn’t make it to the finish line first … I don’t know what to do to make it better.”
Time running out for Busch as winless streak continues
With just one race left in the regular season, Busch’s chances of making the postseason rest on next Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway – one of the hardest tracks on the entire Cup Series circuit.
Busch won his fourth career start at Darlington back in 2008, but he finished 27th at this track in May and has an average finish of 21.6 in the Next Gen car. He did lead 155 laps and won Stage 2 in the 2022 Southern 500 before an engine issue ended his day.
While it’s do-or-die for Busch’s playoff hopes next week, he’ll still have 10 races after that to pick up his first win of the year and extend his record streak to 20 seasons.
READ MORE: NASCAR penalizes Denny Hamlin for ‘grievous mistake’ in major blow to title hopes