Ahead of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway, the second race in the Round of 8, we’ll analyze the four drivers who find themselves below the cutline. Next up is Kurt Busch, who sits fifth in the standings.
BELOW THE BUBBLE: Chase Elliott | Clint Bowyer | Aric Almirola
Points below cutoff: 25
Reason for optimism at Texas: From the first time he turned a lap at Texas, Kurt Busch quickly acclimated recording seven top-10 finishes in his first 10 starts. More recently in April, he had one of the better cars during the spring race as he started on the pole, led 40 laps, placed third and second in the first two stages and finished seventh overall.
Reason for pessimism at Texas: Although he’s turned in several strong runs as of late at Texas, Busch has still not finished in the top five since a fourth in the 2010 spring event, a 16-race span. And his lone win here occurred nine years ago.
RELATED: Full schedule for Texas | Updated playoff standings
Reason for optimism at Phoenix: He led 219 of 312 possible laps during the 2005 spring race en route to his lone win at the desert track. And he recently had a five-race stretch (fall 2014 to fall 2016) where he finished no worse than seventh.
Reason for pessimism at Phoenix: If Busch needs a win to advance can he handle the pressure and avoid the kind of mistake that led to his Playoff ouster in 2015? That year he came into Phoenix needing a win and got his weekend started right by qualifying second, only to be penalized for jumping the start of the race. He never fully regained the lost track position and finished seventh.
Outlook: The Round of 8 is a favorable bracket for Busch, who’s previously won at Texas and Phoenix. This past success combined with being one of the most consistent drivers this season — he has the fourth-most top 10 finishes — presents him a prime opportunity to close the points gap and, if all goes right, maybe even claim a win. But he and the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team must find that last little bit of speed if they are to beat the teams above in the standings and earn a berth in the Championship 4.