Busch, who spun on his own in last week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, had a competitive run going in Sunday’s race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway until a bizarre incident unfolded on the last lap of the first 60-lap stage.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was running up front, apparently ran out of fuel on the final lap and slowed dramatically, sending the cars behind him scurrying out of the way.
As the field scattered, Christopher Bell, Busch and Ross Chastain all made contact. Chastain was knocked out of the race while Bell and Busch both received damage and were able to continue.
“I caught [Chastain] and I hate it for them,” Busch said. “It’s what happens every time at the end of a stage.”
Still, Busch’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet remained competitive the remainder of the race, but he was collected in another incident on the final lap of the race and finished 25th.
“The car was fine. When I could make moves, get in good positions and put myself in good spots, I could get up towards the front,” he said. “My chess match is apparently horrible or I get hung-out every time it comes down to the end and we just lose spots.
“I don’t think the damage (from the first incident) impacted us at all. The car drove fine. I pulled out there to get in that high line and we all got kind of jumbled up there coming through the frontstretch (on the final lap).
The No. 43 (Erik Jones) came with me and a couple others in front of me were up there, and we just didn’t go anywhere. The pace was too fast around the bottom and the middle that the outside lane couldn’t make any headway.
“I was waiting for (Denny Hamlin) to jump out there because he’s always the first to go and he never did. He actually tucked back in behind, so he must have thought a little more about what was going to happen.”
A must-win situation
With one race remaining – next Sunday at the Charlotte Roval – in the second round of the playoffs, Busch is lowest in the playoff standings, 26 points behind the cutoff point (eighth place) and most in danger of being eliminated from further title contention.
That means it will likely require a victory at the Charlotte Roval to advance to the semifinal round of the playoffs.
Busch, 38, has five starts on the Roval course with two top-five finishes, including his best finish of third last year.
Asked about his chances at the Roval, Busch said, “That’s our last shot, so we’ll see what we get.”