Kyle Busch has slipped out of the playoff picture after finishing 35th in Sunday’s Cup race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The two-time Cup champion’s race was cut short by an incident with Kyle Larson, which drove Busch into the wall.
Austin Cindric went on to win, becoming the eighth driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver playoff. Cindric started the race 20th in points, outside of the playoffs.
There are eleven races remaining in the regular season.
Sunday’s race also extended Busch’s winless streak to 36 races. This matches his longest career Cup winless streak.
Busch and Larson were competing for eighth position on the final lap of the second stage when Larson’s vehicle spun, sending Busch into the wall. Busch was done with the race. Larson continued and finished tenth.
“It looked like (Larson) got loose down the front straightaway into Turn 1,” Busch stated. “He was on ancient tires and attempting to get us a position. I’m not sure what that single point would mean for him, but it sure hurt us a lot.
“It eliminated that point, as well as the others we would receive for the stage and the rest of the day. It’s quite frustrating. We cannot afford days like this. The No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Camaro was not as good as it had been previous year, but it was still a top-10 vehicle, and we planned to finish there. We are not going to finish at all.”
Larson told Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass after the race, “I was a little bit better than (Busch).” and side picked him, barely touching his quarter-panel. I do not know. I’m guessing it annoyed him. He squeezed into me. I honestly believed I had a flat tire when I entered Turn 1 since it twisted around backwards, but I think he just took the air out of me. I’m not sure what his side of things was. “That was my side.”
Larson responded to Busch’s query about why one point would matter to him, saying, “I think every point is crucial for everyone in the field. Even the people at the front of the field, like myself, are hoping to win the regular-season championship. Those 15 additional (playoff) points go a long way, thus each position was crucial.
“I felt if I could just hang with him down the frontstretch, we could race through (Turns) 1 and 2, and then maybe hang with him again down the backstretch and clear his through (Turns) 3 and 4, because if I hit my marks there, I was a little bit better than him. Simply hard racing. I have nothing terrible to say about Kyle. We’ve always raced quite well together. Nothing changed on my end.”
Larson is also shown as having no playoff points on NASCAR’s points report, indicating that he is still ineligible for the playoffs after failing to start last month’s Coca-Cola 600 due to a rain delay in the Indianapolis 500. NASCAR has not made a decision on whether to offer Larson a playoff waiver.
With Larson’s current standing, there are eight drivers who have won enough races to qualify for the playoffs. The drivers are William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez, and Cindric.
If Larson is granted a postseason waiver, he will become the eighth driver to qualify for the playoffs as a result of a win. He has two wins this season.
Chase Briscoe holds the final playoff berth, while Larson is still ineligible. He’s four points ahead of Joey Logano and ten points ahead of Busch.
If Larson receives a playoff waiver before next weekend’s race in Sonoma, Chris Buescher will take the final playoff berth, with Briscoe becoming the first driver below the cutline. Busch would be 20 points behind Buescher.
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