NASCAR: Kyle Busch was absolutely correct
By Asher Fair
Kyle Busch said that he would be eliminated after the round of 12 of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The reigning champion was correct.
After a second place finish, his fourth runner-up result of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, at Bristol Motor Speedway to close out the round of 16 back on Saturday, September 19, Kyle Busch, who is still seeking his first win of the year, was asked about how he feels about continuing his chase to repeat as champion at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the following weekend.
A clearly miffed Busch said that he didn’t care, because he wouldn’t make it through the round of 12 anyway.
“We’ll be eliminated in the next round, so don’t care,” he said.
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Since the Championship 4 era began, no reigning champion had been eliminated before the round of 8, and Busch himself hadn’t failed to qualify for a Championship 4 since the first season of the modern playoff format six years ago.
The 35-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native was clearly venting out of frustration over coming so close yet again to victory lane but once again missing out on the chance to return for the first time since his title-clinching performance at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November.
He took heat for making that comment. However, Busch ended up being right.
He entered the round of 12 below the round of 8 cut line, and after none of the three races in the round of 12 was he above that cut line.
He opened up the round with a solid sixth place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but due to his lack of playoff points from the regular season, even that result wasn’t enough to temporarily move him above the cut line.
And he hasn’t finished in the top 26 since.
“I hate it when I’m right,” he said after crashing out at Talladega Superspeedway, the second race of the round.
While that hadn’t yet been confirmed at the time, especially since so many other playoff drivers wrecked at Talladega Superspeedway (as expected/usual), it was solidified the following weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
A pit strategy gamble which got him the race lead even after an earlier issue ended up not paying off in the long run, and he finished in 30th place.
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Busch, who became the first reigning champion of the Championship 4 era not to return to the round of 8, can’t say he didn’t see it coming, as he will not become the first three-time champion since Tony Stewart in 2011 nor the first repeat champion since Jimmie Johnson won five straight titles from 2006 to 2010 this year.