Kyle Busch’s expectations of cruising to a 66th victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series were diminished after finishing third in the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
Busch, who won last season’s Nationwide Series event at Charlotte, entered this weekend determined to duplicate, his driver, Sam Hornish Jr.’s win at Iowa Speedway last weekend.
However, a loose racecar and glum track conditions prevented him from achieving the intended objective – winning.
“A little disappointed,” Busch expressed post-race. “Thought we were better than that, but apparently we’re not. We need practice. Just wrecking loose all day out on the race track — no grip.”
Busch, 29, also credited the dismal finish on the grip-level prohibiting competitors from passing and gaining positions.
“You just can’t pass — you can’t go anywhere,” Busch explained. “The race today was just all around the bottom. There’s no speed anywhere else — you couldn’t get anything going on.”
“Just a one-lane racetrack today. Unfortunately, with the sun (the track) didn’t levee itself to any options, the fastest way was around the bottom, you could never make any time up (when) on the outside. Frustrating when you can’t make anything happen.”
Yet, the main reason for Busch’s gloomy attitude was one thing – he’s not competing for points in the Nationwide Series so he’s focusing his full attention on winning, making a third place result unacceptable.
“We struggled real bad and come home with a third,” Busch commented. “All things considered, we should be happy, but we’re only here for wins — nothing else matters.”
Busch, who wrecked in both Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice earlier this weekend, felt fortunate to complete the race due to the cars conditions, lap traffic and limited track-position.
“Just (was) wrecking loose the whole race — just lucky to finish I guess,” Busch said. “The Monster Energy Camry was okay — fell back to sixth or seventh at one point, but was able to rally back.
“And the (lap traffic) was a little more off the pace than usual. It was (especially) difficult when they were zig-zagging all over the place. I don’t know if it was, but it seemed like (lap traffic) was worse today.”
Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch and the Nationwide Series horde travel into Delaware to compete at Dover International Raceway – a facility that Busch has dominated the past few seasons, giving him a chance for sweet redemption.
