Kyle Busch disappointed with third-place run

You couldn’t call Sunday a bad day for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch.

After all, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota led 62 laps in Sunday’s Auto Club 400, second only to race winner Martin Truex Jr. And though Busch finished third behind Truex and Kyle Larson, he held second place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings, nine points behind Truex, who took over the lead.

The problem was that Busch expected better after a strong showing in Saturday’s practice. But clearly, his Toyota team has some catching up to do relative to Truex’s squad at Furniture Row.

Where was Busch’s car losing time to Truex’s?

“Everywhere,” Busch said succinctly. “Just thought we were closer than that, but obviously not. We were right on top of the 78 (Truex) Saturday. The first run, I thought we were really good and showed some strength, but from there on out showed no strength.”

Busch took the checkered flag more than 12 seconds behind Truex.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.