Another race, another heartbreak for Kyle Busch who just cannot seem to catch a break. With three laps to go, Rowdy was running P6 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In an attempt to pass Denny Hamlin and get into the top five, the two-time Cup Series champion overdrove the #8 and slammed into the #11. This ruined the race for both of them and Busch was only able to muster a 25th place finish. The move was criticized by his former rival Kevin Harvick on his podcast.
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Rowdy has had a lot of bad luck this season. There have been a lot of times he has wrecked without being at fault. But there have also been times he has ruined races for himself. Indianapolis was just an example of that.
He was in a good position right before he wrecked and might have even ended up in the top five. Harvick believes that the two-time champion should make it to the finish line in these situations but has not done so multiple times this season.
Trouble for @KyleBusch in the closing laps! pic.twitter.com/Vs9lBM95SF
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 21, 2024
“I feel like Kyle is driving way over his head,” the 2014 champion said. “You got to get those to the start/finish line and finish those days out to stop the bleeding because right now he’s bleeding every direction that you can bleed from.”
Rowdy has crashed in multiple practice sessions this season and during races as well. If he had finished all of those races where he wrecked by his own mistake, perhaps there could be a scenario where he could point his way into the playoffs. Now, 112 points behind the cutline, those hopes are well and truly dashed.
Rowdy apologizes to RCR after Indianapolis heartbreak
Harvick mentioned in his podcast that this was the most frustrated he had ever seen the two-time Cup Series champion to be. It’s understandable why. Something or the other has been going wrong for the #8 team for several weeks in a row. After the Indianapolis race, however, Rowdy cut a humbled figure as he apologized to his team on social media.
“Got right where we wanted to be with a good car and some really good pit calls. I’m really sorry to all my guys and RCR for crashing while trying to be aggressive and get them a top 5 finish. Ready for this two-week break. Really need it,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The final stretch of the regular season comes after the break and it’s going to be do or die for the #8 driver. He has an incredible record at the Richmond Raceway. That will probably be his best chance of somehow fishing out a win. However, it seems unlikely that Rowdy will make it to the playoffs for the first time in two decades.
