Kyle Busch’s practice and qualifying session ended in disaster at Iowa Speedway this afternoon. Just after clocking the second-fastest lap in Group A, his No. 8 Chevrolet snapped loose while exiting Turn 4. It shot toward Turn 1 and slammed nose-first into the outside wall.
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The crash left Busch’s primary car in ruins. He will roll off from the rear of the field in a backup vehicle for Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350, scheduled for 3:30 pm ET.
Replays showed Busch making a sudden climb up the track, possibly because he was attempting a correction, before flames erupted under the hood upon impact. The crash came just a week after team owner Richard Childress was heard over team radios promising improved equipment for his RCR drivers, fueling hope that both Busch and Austin Dillon would be faster.
Busch admitted he approached the session with the expectation and intent to display an improved performance. The afternoon, however, spiraled out in an instant.
Despite the violent impact, NASCAR confirmed Busch was uninjured. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center. Speaking with Frontstretch afterward, Busch dissected the moment.
“Just trying to find the right rear limit, find the right rear grip that we needed, and made some good changes to the car each time we came down and felt really good in three and four there,” said Busch.
“I throttled up. [The] car stuck well, and I’m like, ‘Okay, the right rear is good. Let’s go.’ And drove it off into one with a little bit more trust factor in it. And obviously it wasn’t there. So, got a little bit loose and overcorrected and just smacked the fence.
“I’m not really sure how to find more trust when you feel something good in one corner, and it’s not there in the next,” Busch added.
The timing of the crash could not have been worse. Sitting 81 points below the playoff cut line after Bubba Wallace’s Indianapolis win sealed another postseason berth, Busch faces the prospect of missing the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the second straight year.
With just four races remaining, his path to the postseason almost certainly runs through victory lane. And starting from the back on Sunday will make that task difficult in Iowa.
