How Kyle Busch Shot Himself in the Foot in Attempt to Sabotage Kyle Larson at Gateway

Kyle Busch wasn’t too pleased with Kyle Larson at the Gateway on Sunday. The drivers tangled towards the end of Cup Series race’s stage 2 and Busch suffered irreparable damage to his car. He was forced to sit out of the rest of the race and dropped down spots on the points table. All the negative results that stemmed from the incident could be because of Rowdy’s own doing.

The duo were making slight contact with each other towards Turn 3 and 4 before entering Turn 1. A frustrated Busch got tight with Larson which backfired at him as he was shoved into the SAFER barrier in Turn 2. Noting down the sequence, veteran spotter Freddie Kraft said on his podcast, “Kyle Busch held him really tight into [Turn] 1, Larson gets loose, chases it into him, and wrecks the two of them.”

A tale of two Kyle’s – which one messed up more? pic.twitter.com/r2Lik6KLV7

— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) June 4, 2024

He continued, “To me, the guy that screws up in this situation is Kyle Busch. He was in the playoffs, P14 in standings, and he is now 20 points out behind three guys.” As of now, Busch hasn’t secured a victory in the 2024 season yet and faces pressure to find a spot in the playoffs. Perhaps he ought to have maintained a cooler head and took home some points that would’ve given a tad bit of breathing space.

Speaking to the press after the race, Busch expressed awareness of how crucial it was for him to be securing points. He said, “Not sure what that single point was really gonna mean for him [Larson], but certainly hurt us a lot because (it) took that point away as well as the others that we’d get for the stage and then also the rest of the day. So very frustrating.”

Denny Hamlin calls for Kyle Busch to keep his emotions in check

The result was the first DNF for Busch this season. While he explicitly mentioned that he couldn’t afford days like these, Joe Gibbs Racing icon Denny Hamlin believes that the controls are in his own hands. He advised Busch on the Actions Detrimental podcast, “I heard [Busch] say they can’t afford days like this but in these instances, you just gotta keep your emotions somewhat in check.”

The 2X Cup Series champion will get another chance to secure a playoff spot at the Sonoma Raceway over the upcoming weekend. He is a two-time winner on the road course and could emerge as the victor if he could find a way to bag his emotions when facing tough situations.