(Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
AUSTIN, Texas — Kyle Busch was as surprised as anyone that he finished second Sunday at Circuit of the Americas.
Although he got extra track time with a pre-season tire test, Busch struggled to find speed on the long run. But a pit call to stay out on old tires with 12 laps to go helped the 37-year-old notch his fourth top 10 in six races with Richard Childress Racing.
“We had a lot of ups and downs there. I really wasn’t sure we were going to have a capable opportunity to be able to finish second today,” Busch said. “We kind of got behind on strategy a couple of times but were able to persevere. We stayed out and were on older tires than the rest of those guys around us.
“We had really good long run speed when we tested here. And [Sunday], we just didn’t have enough long run speed. I felt like we had good middle run speed. But we’re just burning the brakes and tires and everything, so we had to get tires earlier than most.”
After Busch stayed out, he got blessed with a late series of cautions that helped suit his short-run car. Ross Chastain spun in Turn 1 on a Lap 61 restart, calling for a yellow flag. A few laps later, Busch’s teammate, Austin Dillon, slowed on track and caused another yellow.
Busch held his position at the front of the field through three NASCAR Overtime attempts. Through it all, Busch prefered to start on the inside of the second row, even though he had options to start on the outside of row one.
“It’s hard to give up a front row start,” Busch said. “When I took third and got second, then took third and got second again, I was like there’s no sense in me going to the outside and getting pushed out in the gravel and all that stuff over there [in Turn 1].
“If that area was paved, everything where the grass is then you can take the outside because you’d have a hell of a lot more runoff and an opportunity to work your way back to the track. But with the way everything shakes out over there, you got to be inside.
(Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
However, Busch had nothing for Reddick, who cruised to his first win of the season and fourth of his career. Reddick’s first three wins came in the very car that Busch drove — including at a pair of road courses in 2022.
“Tyler, obviously, is a really good road racer,” Busch said. “He proved it driving this car here last year. I was able to get in it and run right back to him. I’ve been trying to emulate the things that he did in order to make this car fast last year and just not quite all the way there. They had a whale of a car.
“We ran each other hard, we ran each other clean, we gave each other room. I respect the kid. He’s been nothing but great to me, so I give him respect back.”
Busch finished seventh in Stage 1 to earn four points and total 39 on the afternoon. Through six races, Busch holds second in points (-19) behind Ross Chastain.
The NASCAR Cup Series is off to Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 2 for the Toyota Owners 400. The race is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
