Busch showed early on he would be a contender for the win Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway but it was also clear his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota performed best on longer runs.
After Busch reclaimed the lead on a restart on Lap 228, it appeared he was headed to his second win of the season but Kevin Harvick’s wreck with four of the originally scheduled 240 laps remaining sent the race into a two-lap overtime.
The last restart gave Joey Logano, who lined up alongside Busch on the front row, a chance to get by him thanks to a push from Ryan Blaney. While Busch and Logano traded crossover moves on the last lap, it was Logano who came out on top.
Asked how close he came to the victory, Busch said, “Not even close. Did you see me about wreck off of (Turn) 4? Cold tires, firing off on that restart – didn’t have the help behind me. Got into Turn 1 by myself and was too far back.
“When you are the guy on the inside, you just flush the guy on the outside and it’s over. I got a crossover though but threw it into (Turn) 3 too far. It chattered all four tires. Just didn’t have any grip to get off the corner well enough to be on his outside.”
Still, there were positives both for Busch and his fellow Toyota drivers.
Busch’s runner-up finish was his third consecutive of third or better and fifth in the last seven races. He’s also led laps in each race during that stretch, including a race-high 66 on Sunday.
Sunday’s performance – which included four Toyotas finishing in the top-10 and three leading laps – was a vast improvement from earlier in the season at Phoenix, a flat 1-mile oval similar to Gateway.
In that race, two Toyotas finished in the top-10 and none of manufacturer’s six drivers led a lap.
“For as bad as Phoenix was, JGR, the Toyota guys, did a good job getting us some improvements there and at least being able to keep up and have a shot at the win,” Busch said.
“Our car just took too long to come in. Better on the long run. Better up top. Top is not good to fire off on. Again, we stayed in the running all day long and fought hard and thought maybe we could (win), but that was it.”
