After starting the playoffs last week at Darlington, S.C., exiting early with engine issues, Busch came into Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway hoping for vast improvement.
Instead, he got more of the same.
His No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota struggled all weekend, first in qualifying (he qualified 20th) and then in the race itself.
He suffered a setback when he was penalized during pit stops on Lap 112 for equipment interference as one of his tires rolled into a competitor’s pit stall. That sent Busch to the rear of the field on the restart.
Then, while trying to make up lost ground, Busch spun off Turn 4 on Lap 138 of 267 and plowed through the frontstretch grass infield. He eventually finished 26th in the race and two laps down from race winner Bubba Wallace.
“Just got really loose and it snapped around me,” said Busch, who will announce his 2023 Cup plans on Tuesday. “Then I had damage from going through the grass. Kind of ruined the rest of our day, but it was whatever happened on that pit stop that set us backwards to get us back in traffic there.
“Tried to make an adjustment to the car to make it faster and it did make it faster, but definitely made it looser.”
Escaping elimination
After two disappointing weekends, Busch is now among the four drivers below the first-round playoff cutoff line (joining Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick).
He is, however, just two points below the cutoff line with the playoff field still relatively close – 10th place to 15th in the standings are separated by just 13 points.
While Busch still has a decent opportunity to advance to Round 2 on points with a good finish – or better yet automatically with a win next weekend at Bristol, Tenn. (where he has eight wins on the concrete oval) – he remains unsure what to expect.
“We’ll go and try hard and if what Bristol has always been to me occurs, we’ll be fine,” he said. “With the way this year has been, if that occurs, it’s going to be ugly.”
