Kyle Busch, winner of two straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, saw his streak snapped after tire issues sent him into the wall multiple times in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.
“Fans were on. Everything was fine. Just blew a (expletive) tire,” Busch told the team over the radio after a right front tire problem sent him into the wall on Lap 50.
Goodyear Racing offered an explanation for what happened in the first instance to the No. 18 on Twitter.
18 of @KyleBusch melted a bead (excessive brake heat) on his RF at @BMSupdates, bringing out that first caution. @NASCAR
— Goodyear Racing (@GoodyearRacing) April 17, 2016
Busch was not the only JGR driver with tire woes on this day as both Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin also had issues. Goodyear is taking those tires from the 11, 18, and 20 for further analysis. The JGR drivers’ teammate Carl Edwards won the race while leading 276 laps.
RELATED: Kenseth goes into wall, derails bid for Bristol win
It was a long day for Busch as he also was penalized for being too fast on pit road when he came in for adjustments after the hit.
Later, on Lap 116, Busch was tapped from behind by the No. 34 of Chris Buescher and spun out down to the bottom apron, but he managed to avoid major damage.
After all that, “Rowdy” had steered his No. 18 Toyota back into the top 12 by Lap 160 before the final nail in the coffin ended his day.
On Lap 258, Busch had another tire go down, sending him back into the wall for his hardest hit of the day.
“It’s (expletive) killed,” crew chief Adam Stevens said over the radio as he summoned his driver to the garage. “We’re done, go home.”
After getting out of the car, Busch told FOX that he had “no idea” what kept leading to his cut tires.
“Guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” Busch told FOX. “We drove up from the back to the front a couple times and showed them what we’re made of, but unfortunately it doesn’t matter when you’re in the garage.”
A five-time winner at Bristol, Busch finished the race in 38th place.