Kyle Busch is now 0-18. The two time champion did not win his first Daytona 500 in his 18th try Sunday night, though he did come close.
Busch overcame a pit road speeding penalty on lap 107 and was in contention late in the going. He would lead 6 laps, 2 of those coming to the scheduled distance of 200 laps. On lap 199 however, the spinning car of Daniel Suarez sent the race into overtime.
Busch and his Richard Childress Racing teammate looked to be the pair to beat. But with the 500 being the first superspeedway with NASCAR’s choose rule, the strategy for the restart became critical. Busch chose the upper lane, Dillon the lower. One the overtime restart, the pair were swept up by Joey Logano and eventual race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
“It just didn’t play out,” Dillon said. “We weren’t as good as some of the Fords to be able to tandem and get hooked up. The 6 (Keselowski) car just drove through the 24 (William Byron), and that is just what he does. His car is just good enough to where he can just drive through who he needs to and push them out of the way, or wreck them. That is the desperation that they are in right now.
“I hate it because I was wanting to get Kyle Busch in victory lane here at Daytona. Looking back I should have been a little more selfish at that point. I wish we would have just tried to block both lanes, truthfully. It was one of those deals that is a hard position to be in.”
Dillon was swept up in a crash that set up a second attempt at an overtime restart and finished 33rd. With no teammate on the second attempt, Busch was over ran and also swept up in crash, this one that ended the race. He was scored 19th.
“I was hoping to have a teammate restart where I could get down on the bottom,” Busch said. “Then when I got down on the bottom and get all locked up and the 24 and the 8 and the 3 would all work together and push and go.
“Looked like it was kind of working but we got too much separation off of 2 and I tried to back up to get to them and when they hit me it got me really squirrely and Austin checked up and then the accordion happens and everyone gets running over everybody.”
Busch will now have to wait another year for end his Daytona 500 winless streak.
“I think this is the first time I led lap 200,” he said. “I wish it was 1998 rules. It’s just par for the course. Just used to it. I come down here every year just to find out when and where I’m going to crash and what lap I come out of the care center.
“I don’t think you are ever confident.”
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.