By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
60 races.
That’s the number of races since Kyle Busch last visited victory lane in the NASCAR Cup Series after coming up short in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
In a flashback from last year, Busch had to deal with Christopher Bell in the closing laps in Texas. Instead of a post-race confrontation from Busch to voice his displeasure on Bell like a drill sergeant, they left all the talking on the track.
After finishing fourth in both stages, Busch was in prime position of attempting to get his first win since Gateway in 2023. But he had a mirror full of Bell, who was going for back-to-back Cup victories to kick off an already hot 2025 season.
It reached its crescendo when the two battled very hard and ultimately rubbed fenders with Busch fighting for dear life to keep the top spot. When the 95-lap race came down to its final four laps, a wobble allowed Bell to pounce and make his move in Turn 1 to take the lead away.
Due to their fierce battle, it allowed William Byron and Tyler Reddick to join the fight for first. Both men got by Busch a lap later as he began fading away when tire rub became concerning among the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing crew.
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“I thought you were supposed to be able to have contact with these cars,” Busch said over the radio.
At that point, it was a matter of salvaging a strong day as he saw a chance of a 63rd Cup win fading away. Coming to the white flag, Busch was nearly five seconds behind Bell as Chase Elliott inserted himself into the picture and valiantly looking for an opening to take fourth from Busch.
On the last lap, Elliott was all over Busch’s back bumper and made his move in Turns 12-13, diving low to take fourth.
As Bell went on to score the victory at COTA, Busch crossed the line in fifth after leading six times for a race-high 42 of 95 laps.
Busch wished he had equal tires as Bell and the contact did his No. 8 Chevrolet zero favors towards the end. Even with that, the last caution involving his Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon, that saw his race end, and Denny Hamlin put Busch on defense. Not the ideal circumstances he would’ve wanted as Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was competitive all race long.
“I don’t know if that was all the difference. I know he was really fast, and he had a good racecar,” said Busch. “I feel like that might have been able to help hold me on a little bit better to him, but even that last yellow flag that we had, I felt like the gap that I had to the field, I was far enough out front that I could run the clean lines, the lines that I wanted, to preserve the tires and take care of them as much as I could to see if he could get there.
“But once we had that yellow, then it was just defensive mode. You’re in complete and utter just beat the heck out of the tires at that point, and I just didn’t have it over the No. 20. Hate it that the contact that we made between two and three ruined our racecar too. It bent the right-rear toe link and knocked everything out of it. I just didn’t have anything there at the end to compete with those guys. That doesn’t go for what our Chevy was today.”
After three races, Busch heads to Phoenix Raceway ninth in the regular season standings and a glimpse of hope that the two-time Cup Series champion is shaping himself to snap the long winless streak sooner than later.
“If we can keep getting top-fives and running in the top-five, the wins will be right there,” Busch commented.
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