[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”228″]
[/media-credit]With three Nationwide Series races remaining in the 2012 season, Kyle Busch finds himself in unfamiliar territory. The winningest driver in NNS history is winless. Yes, winless. Locked out of a place that he used to take up an almost permanent residence and looking for some way to get back on the right side of the racing Gods. For Busch, nothing less than winning is acceptable.
Saturday afternoon in Kansas it was more than just the fact that Busch had another victory snatched from him. It was how it happened. Running out of fuel on a green-white-checkered finish and coasting to the finish line sixth. He had been leading when coming through turns three and four when the tank in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota went dry.
“Ran out in the middle of three and four. But, that’s our year man,” said Busch after making it back to pit road. “Nothing else to it than that.”
Busch, who led on two occasions for 29 laps, started sixth and fought back from early trouble. He scrapped the wall and damaged the right rear decklid, but his KBM team quickly fixed the problem and Busch, falling as far as 29th, rallied back into contention. Taking the lead on lap 176 things appeared well in hand as he cruised to the finish.
He fended off challenges from Paul Menard, who had the day’s strongest car. Menard led 110 of the race’s 206 laps. But both Menard and Busch were done in by not only a late caution, but an extra caution lap when Kenny Wallace and Sam Hornish ran out fuel. The race having already been extended into overtime after a hard crash between Hal Martin and Scott Lagasse Jr. stopped the action with just three laps remaining.
When the race restarted Busch quickly drove away in the lead, but that last little bit of fuel he needed was gone a lap later. Another hard pill to swallow, but he did so graciously afterwards. Perhaps, as he revealed, it has just been that kind of year. He’s accepted it and has begun to wonder what will happen next.
Crew chief Mike Beam, sitting atop the Monster Energy pit box and seemingly holding his breath, also knew it wasn’t over until Busch crossed the line. Beam, when asked on-air about his thoughts on the pending finish simply stated he hoped, “the racing Gods are with us today.” For he too, had seen this movie before, with Busch the character who gets left out in the cold.
Unfortunately on Saturday, that meant now going 20 NNS races without a win. Not since September of last year at Richmond has Busch seen Victory Lane.
This season, driving his own equipment, Busch hasn’t seen the same success he’s used to. While brother Kyle has the lone win for the company – at Richmond in May – Kyle is in jeopardy of seeing one his streaks come to an end. He’s won a least one race a year in the NNS for the past eight years.
This year though, doesn’t look to be. While there’s still time to make it happen, a black cloud continues to hang above the Las Vegas native who missed the Chase in the Sprint Cup Series and fights for his life in a series he made history in. A driver who once made winning look so easy, can’t seem to remember how to now. His eight wins from a year ago, a distance memory.
And so, as Busch and Beam walked off into the Kansas sunset on Saturday afternoon, it was with the knowledge that the racing business can be cruel. That sometimes, even the best drivers (Busch) and the best situations (leading in turn four on the last lap) aren’t a sure thing. Sometimes, it’s just not your year.
“I can’t say enough about all our guys, everybody at Monster Energy and Toyota – they do a great job for us,” Busch said, holding his head high but still in disbelief. “We’re supposed to repay them by winning races and we haven’t done that this year. What a frustrating defeat. Oh well, you get defeated sometimes.”
