Winless and frustrated all season long, Kyle Busch seemed to be headed to Victory Lane in Kansas when he passed Ross Chastain for the lead on the final stage. It would have been a massive sigh of relief for Rowdy and his team had he maintained it, but it just wasn’t meant to be again. With 32 laps remaining, he tried to lap Chase Briscoe but the No. 14 driver squeezed him into the wall and his car got loose, thereby ending his charge for the win.
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Former Cup Series driver Kyle Petty opined to NASCAR in a recent analysis of the race that the Stewart-Haas Racing driver should have “respected” the two-time champion more. He said, “He should have given him more room. I’m going to say that right off the bat. Chase Briscoe, in that situation, should have given Kyle Busch a little bit of respect and gave him a little bit more room.”
Briscoe wasn’t in the fight for track position, and his race was already ruined by that point. There was nothing he could have done to finish in a good points-scoring position. The move appeared to be plainly unnecessary on his part. But not all was his fault. Petty continued, “Kyle Busch has yet to come to terms with this car. He doesn’t understand how the aero affects it.”
Rowdy has won at least a single race in each of the past 19 seasons. He is in no mood to have that streak broken this year. However, judging from the way things are going, it’s unlikely that the veteran will be able to reach victory lane in one of the upcoming six races. He sure is gearing up for an interesting climax to his 2024 campaign.
Briscoe explains his point of view in the final stage incident with Busch
Briscoe believes that his Kansas outing was his worst race of the season. Nearly going a lap down when competing in a crucial Round of 12 race ought to be a frustrating affair for any playoff driver. But he maintained in his interviews that the move against Busch was not intentional by any means.
He said, “I was making sure he was tight like I wasn’t just going to pull over and give it to him. We’re still racing for staying on the lead lap, but I felt like I left him a car width and a couple inches. These cars are so sensitive, and I feel like especially at this track off of 2, if you’re off to somebody’s right rear, you get so loose, and it looked like that’s just what happened.”
Regardless of his words, he might face some repercussions from the two-time Cup Series champion. Moreover, Briscoe is already in a tough spot heading to Talladega. He is 25 points behind the Round of 8 elimination line and will be hoping for a strong performance on the superspeedway. A wild card venue like the Dega can put anyone in victory lane. He would do well to take his chances and shoot for victory.
