At the end of Stage 1, Kyle Busch found himself hitting the wall, but Ross Chastain took the worst of it and was a DNF on the day. Chastain ended up being second-to-last only to the disqualified Kevin Harvick. He also slipped from 6th to 11th in the NASCAR Playoff standings.
When the checkered flag waved, Kyle Busch only managed a P25 finish. It was a tough day for the two-time Cup Series champion. While he didn’t think the contact with Chastain caused his issues, he felt bad about the incident.
After the race, Busch talked about the wreck.
“I would suspect he [Ricky Stenhouse Jr.] ran out of fuel and I was stuck behind him and he never waved,” Busch said to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports. “It was really late by the time I pulled out, tried to pull out as smooth and as slow as I could, and caught the 1 [Chastain] so I hate it for the 1 and those guys. It’s what happens every time at the end of a stage.”
“The car was fine, when I could make moves and make good positions and put myself in good spots I could get up towards the front. Then, my chess match is apparently horrible or I get hung out every time it comes down to the end and just lose spots.”