Kyle Busch had an up-and-down day at Texas that ended near the middle of the pack.
Busch started fifth but caused the second caution of the race when he brushed the wall on Lap 58. Persistent quick work by his No. 18 crew, and some all-out driving by Busch, got the car as far forward as second in the running order before a pit-road speeding penalty with 35 laps left knocked him back to 13th at the finish.
“We had a tire problem early,” said crew chief Dave Rogers, “and the guys did a great job of fixing the race car. That wasn’t a bad wreck, but it was bad enough where it could have ruined our day, and they all jumped in there and got the side pulled back out, got it away from the tires and the car still had speed in it.
“Kyle did a phenomenal job of keeping us in the game and just keep chipping there. Kyle thought we had another tire going down, we short-pitted (on Lap 237) and it ended up working out in our favor strategy-wise and gained a lot of track position.”
But the strategy came undone with the speeding penalty.
“Things were looking pretty good there, but like I told Kyle after the race — on a team, everybody is giving 100 percent, and when everybody is giving 100 percent sometime they give 100.1 and that .1 gets you in trouble. Kyle feels terrible today because he sped on pit road late in the race, but this is a team and we’ve got his back.
“He was giving us all he had to give us the best finish possible, and we took a little bit more than what was there. That’s OK — we’ll go to Phoenix and Homestead and race them.”
- NASCAR All-Star Race NEWS: #HaleYES You Need to Vote for Justin Haley - April 23, 2024
- Goodyear to Supply Option Tire for Cup All-Star Race - April 23, 2024
- NASCAR, North Wilkesboro Speedway Announce 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race Format - April 23, 2024