Sunday’s Cup Series race at Nashville had quite many surprises packed in it. But one storyline that ended much like it did for the rest of the season is that of Kyle Busch. The Richard Childress Racing superstar once couldn’t finish his race after being wrecked because of a mistake by Kyle Larson and his #5 Hendrick Motorsports team.
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The race was in its 321st lap when the drivers lined up for a restart. Just as they took off, the fuel tank on Larson’s Chevrolet Camaro ran empty and the car failed to go. Busch, who was lined up behind Larson, fell out of the array and crashed against the wall. Understandably frustrated at his continuing bad luck, he gave fans his signature bow getting out of the car, though not for a happy reason.
KYLE LARSON DOESN’T GO.
KYLE BUSCH CRASHES AND IS OUT.
WE’RE GOING TO QUADRUPLE OVERTIME IN NASHVILLE ON USA NETWORK AND THE NBC SPORTS APP. pic.twitter.com/U8vASYiJyj
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 1, 2024
Talking to the press in the aftermath, Larson expressed deep regret for his mistake that ended up ruining Busch’s day. He said, “We ran out of fuel and caused that wreck. So, hate that for Kyle [Busch]. I had no warning. So we knew we were really close on fuel and it would be a stretch to make it.” One of the reasons for Larson’s team miscalculating the fuel needed was the multiple overtime restarts in the race.
“I thought my opportunity to give myself a chance to win was to get clean air on the nose”
8th place finisher Kyle Larson on late race contact with Ross Chastain that saw the 1 car hit the wall.
Larson also talks about running out of fuel & if there’s rivalry between he and… pic.twitter.com/23sXdQ1lBZ
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) July 1, 2024
He continued, “I had no low fuel pressure, alarm, or anything on my dash so it was a bit surprising to me to get back on the throttle and it just never went. Couldn’t really get out of the way either cause we were still to the wall. Like it hadn’t gotten to the dogleg yet to get out of the way. I’m really really bummed for him cause he needs all the points.”
Where does Kyle Busch stand after the Nashville race?
When Busch entered the 1.33-mile oval to race, he was 45 points below the playoff elimination line. But now, he’s 104 points behind it. Safe to say, his season just got from bad to worse.
The Rowdy is now 40 races without a win, the single longest winless stretch in his Cup Series career. With just seven more races to go in the regular season, the chances of him competing for the championship are running low.
Larson, on the other hand, kept his spot at the top of the points table (664 points). He pulled ahead of teammate Chase Elliott (644 points) with an eighth-placed finish and is now 20 points ahead of him in the race for the regular season championship. The next premier-tier fixture will be at the infamous Chicago Street Course.
