LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Busch can take a lot of positives from the Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire.
He led 95 laps, second only to Martin Truex Jr.’s 137. He won the second stage, earning his fifth playoff point of the season. And he did nothing to hurt his third-place position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings—good news for a driver who may have to qualify for the playoff on points.
But Busch didn’t get the one major positive he really wanted—a victory.
A pair of pit road speeding penalties, both in Segment 5 on the way to his pit box, cost him dearly in track position and dropped him to 12th at the finish.
“I messed up a couple of times with getting the speeding penalties, and it pretty much cost us a chance for the win today,” Busch said. “It’s disappointing, but we’ll look forward to getting to Indianapolis next week.”
Next Sunday’s race at the Brickyard may be just the remedy Busch needs. He’s the two-time defending winner at the vaunted 2.5-mile track.
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.
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