NASCAR: Kyle Busch didn’t clinch a playoff spot

Kyle Busch made the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season his 18th straight winning season, but he didn’t necessarily clinch a spot in the playoffs.

He only needed one lap to “back into a win”, but Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch is willing to take them however he can get them in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Following last-lap, last-turn contact between leaders Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe, Busch capitalized and stole a victory in Sunday’s dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway, his first win in the Gen 7 car.

The win was the 60th of the 37-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native’s career, good for ninth place on the all-time list, and it made him just the second driver to win at least one race in 18 straight seasons (Richard Petty won at least two each year from 1960 to 1977).

But one thing it didn’t do was lock the driver of the #18 Toyota into the playoffs.

The 16 playoff spots to go the regular season points champion, whether he has any wins to his name or not, and the 15 drivers who rank next highest in wins. So with 26 regular season races, winning once doesn’t necessarily guarantee a playoff berth.

There has been a considerable amount of parity to open up the Next Gen era as well, which has called into the question the “win and in” concept of the playoffs.

Through nine races, there have been at least 16 drivers who very easily could have found victory lane. There have been eight official winners so far, with only one driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, winning twice.

And to make matters even more interesting, the current points leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, doesn’t have a win. In fact, neither do Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney or Joey Logano, who sit in second and third place in the standings, respectively.

So with 17 races to go, nine playoff spots are already effectively occupied.

The only way to truly clinch a playoff berth at this point in the regular season is to win twice, as there can be no more than 13 two-race winners in the 26-race regular season.

Fortunately for Busch, if there are more than 16 winners, the tiebreaker among one-race winners to determine the final playoff spots becomes points — just like the tiebreaker among non-winners is technically points when there are fewer than 16 winners.

Busch sits in sixth place in the point standings, which is good for third highest among the eight winners and second highest among the seven single-race winners. Byron sits in fourth place ahead of teammate Alex Bowman in fifth.

So while Busch isn’t truly locked in yet, he is in a pretty favorable position, and he will probably qualify for the postseason whether he wins another regular season race or not.

Will a ninth different winner emerge in the 2022 season’s 10th race, this Sunday afternoon’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway? This race is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. on Sunday, April 24, so be sure to begin your free trial of FuboTV if you have yet to do so!