For a fleeting moment, with 40 laps left to be raced in Michigan on Monday, it appeared Kyle Busch might emerge as the winner. He had just put on two fresh tires under the green flag and still managed to come out of the pit road ahead of the race leaders. Though the ambitious gamble did not yield a win, it did give him a top-five finish, a great result considering his recent form.
Advertisement
Busch crossed the checkered flag in fourth place after what was an extremely entertaining race in the Great Lakes State. His No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro showed impressive speed and his crew did a fantastic job on the pit road to give him that tiny bit of extra advantage. Before Monday, the dry run that the veteran was on was the second-longest he had ever gone without a top-five finish.
He underwent one of the worst spells of his career following a fourth-place finish in Dover, 13 races back. His longest streak without a top-five finish was 16 races in 2022. He would have certainly breathed a huge sigh of relief that he didn’t break that record. In addition to the top finish in Michigan, he also collected a stage win and led 24 laps.
Kyle Busch’s 4th place finish at Michigan was his first top 5 finish since Dover, 13 races ago.
Before today, this had been the 2nd longest Kyle Busch has EVER gone without a top 5 finish (702 career starts) pic.twitter.com/arEsq15nrI
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) August 19, 2024
“It was a good day overall for our No. 8 team,” he said post-race. “Maybe it needed a tick more speed, but it was a good top-eight car, so we got a little bit more out of that with the Lucas Oil Chevrolet.” He went on to praise the pit strategy of Randall Burnett and expressed his pleasure at being able to stay up front in the final stage. The heightened level of performance has now raised a pressing question.
Can Kyle Busch make it into the playoffs?
Before the race in Richmond, Richard Childress Racing appeared to be clueless about what was happening under the hood of its cars. But Austin Dillon’s victory appears to have given the team a fresh shot of adrenaline. It has proven over the last two races that it can put together cars that are capable of winning races.
With such optimism, it is hard to count Busch out of the mix yet. He currently sits 93 points below the cutoff line so it is safe to say that he simply cannot advance on points. A win is the only means for him to make the cut and the next two races will be at Daytona and Darlington.
Perhaps the momentum that he has gathered in Michigan will translate to further glory in Florida this coming weekend.
