Kyle Busch laments Round of 12 ousting from NASCAR Playoffs: ‘That’s on me’

CONCORD, N.C. -- In a must-win situation to advance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Kyle Busch was firmly in the hunt late at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course. The checkered flag flew with the two-time champion running third, however, ending his 2023 postseason hunt in a flash. With it, Busch's first year at Richard Childress Racing results in a title pursuit that fell short at the midpoint of the playoffs. "Hell of a job all day, man. Way to fight," crew chief Randall Burnett radioed on the cool-down lap. "Sorry we came up a little short. Hell of a job, though." "All good, man. Thanks. Appreciate the opportunity," Busch said. "Sorry about the last two weeks, but that rides on me." RELATED: Race results | At-track photos In the two weeks that preceded Sunday's race at the Charlotte road course, Busch crashed out at Texas Motor Speedway for a 34th-place DNF and finished 25th at Talladega Superspeedway without scoring stage points in either event. Standing on pit road on Sunday in Concord, Busch placed the onus for the No. 8 team's points deficit squarely on his shoulders. Ultimately, Busch finished the Round of 12 at the bottom of the standings, 12th, 30 points shy of advancing to the Round of 8. "The bigger defining factor ... of today is the last two weeks and not scoring enough points," Busch told reporters. "So, you know, that's on me just not doing a good job at Texas when we did have a good car, and then again last week (at Talladega) being in position to score points both times at the end of the stages and losing spots, just looked like I threw out the anchor." Busch lined up in prime striking position twice within the final 15 laps. On the penultimate restart at Lap 98, Busch's No. 8 Chevrolet restarted directly behind eventual race winner AJ Allmendinger in the outside lane, using an excellent launch to clear Ty Gibbs to vault into second place before another quick caution flag waved. When the race went back green, Busch was on the front row to Allmendinger's left, but Busch spun his tires exiting the frontstretch chicane on the restart, allowing an Allmendinger advantage that ultimately sealed their respective fates. Even without the race's final caution period, Busch, a three-time winner in 2023, didn't believe his car had enough speed or handling to reel in Allmendinger's No. 16 Kaulig Racing entry for the victory. "I don't think so," he said. "I would have had to move him for sure. I would have had to move him in a chicane where it would have made him ... have to stop and so then he wouldn't come back and retaliate. That's a tool to use if you can get there and use it. I was hoping William (Byron, runner-up) was going to use it. But he's got too many wins already so he didn't care. Yeah, I mean, just racing." Allmendinger and Busch have a strong longstanding relationship, Allmendinger explained in his post-race press conference, noting hour-long phone calls they've had with Busch detailing advice to Allmendinger. Their respect for one another on and off the track encouraged Allmendinger to further trust Busch despite the heightened stakes for the No. 8 team. "I knew he was gonna race hard. I knew what he was racing for," Allmendinger said. "But, you know, I also didn't think he'd come clean me out or anything on a restart like that. So just about trying to lead into Turn 1 and not really give an opportunity to get to my bumper. And I knew once we could get through a couple of corners, I could clear him and start driving away. So that was always my focus." The season has been remarkably up-and-down for Busch. Three of his last four finishes are 20th or worse, but he also owns four top-10 results in the past seven races after a dismal summer spell. Those inconsistencies were nonexistent on Sunday at the Charlotte road course. [caption id="attachment_409777" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Studios[/caption] "Sorry we came up short. Everybody did a great job. Did what we need to do. Just a little short," Burnett radioed. Spotter Derek Kneeland echoed that positivity: "Yeah, 10-4 man, it was a hell of an effort. This team don't quit. Plenty more wins coming. Just wasn't our year." "The resilience of the team is by far greater than mine probably," Busch said. "You know, I put ourselves in a lot of bad spots and they've just come to work on Monday and fought and battled through it and given us another good car to go to the next week with. So a lot of it rides on me just getting sloppy, not doing a very good job. And I'm not making excuses, but trying to figure this car out, you know? I just lose the balance of it. Did again today. Was able to get a third out of it, but, you know, probably would have been worse off than that if it wasn't for the track position." MORE: Playoff Pulse: Inside the grid | Postseason standings Joining Busch on the outskirts of the Round of 8 are Ross Chastain (-12), Bubba Wallace (-17) and Brad Keselowski (-23). Chastain advanced to the Championship 4 a season ago in his inaugural year at Trackhouse Racing, but a Stage 1 crash at Talladega resulted in a 37th-place finish, undoing the benefits of a runner-up result at Texas and a 10th-place finish at Charlotte. "We knew coming in that it was going to be tough," Chastain said. "We put together a heck of a day for us on road courses this year in this No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevy. Lately, we’ve just been lacking speed and I can’t get over the curbs." Wallace, who has notoriously struggled at road courses, excelled as the fastest driver in Saturday's practice session before qualifying fourth. He earned 13 stage points but ultimately finished 16th. "It was a great effort from everybody," Wallace said. "We did not take ourselves out of it. We did everything that we could. It's childish -- I'm saying that now -- it's childish to be pissed off about that, right? So just accepting that and moving on." Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, entered Sunday's contest two points above the provisional elimination line, with Tyler Reddick next in line to attack. The driver and co-owner of the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford was already at a disadvantage after Saturday's qualifying, with Reddick earning the pole position while Keselowski started 19th. Keselowski is still seeking his first race victory since departing from Team Penske, but a Round of 12 appearance marked considerable improvement of the program's overall performance. "Just major progress from where we were last year," Keselowski said. "Not where we want to be, but a lot closer to it and we can see it."