Darlington heartbreak: Trio of NASCAR drivers lament missed opportunity to make playoffs
Kyle Busch got out of his car, grabbed a bottle of water and began drinking it as fireworks started going off Sunday night at Darlington Raceway. Down the way from Busch, Chase Briscoe was doing a burnout in celebration of his upset win of the Cook Out Southern 500. Briscoe held off Busch down the stretch for the win and final spot in NASCAR’s 16-driver postseason field.
“We thought we had a shot to get ourselves a win and get our way though,” Busch said. “But tires there at the end put wind in our sails. But once, I got in the wind of the 14 car (Briscoe) I couldn’t do anything with it.” Busch and Briscoe both entered the night needing a win in the cutoff race before the playoffs. Busch was in the midst of one of his worst seasons in his Cup career but a win would have salvaged it as well as extended his consecutive seasons with at least one win. The Richard Childress Racing driver had won at least one race in every season since he started racing Cup full-time in 2005.
Busch got off to a rough start and had some bad luck on the way this season. He finished 35th three times in a four-race stretch at one point but had shown signs of momentum over the final month of the regular season with three finishes of fourth or better in the past three weeks. “It is something we wish we would have had earlier in the year,” Busch said. “We were way too far on points to gather enough points to make it in on that.” Busch wasn’t the only diver that experienced heartbreak in front of a sellout crowd on Sunday. Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace also had their playoff hopes dashed. Buscher would have gotten the final spot if a first-time winner like Briscoe hadn’t won the race. BUESCHER, WALLACE ALSO FALL SHORT
The Roush Fenway Keselowski driver missed the postseason by just six points and lamented his disappointment afterward. Buescher, who came into the race 21 points ahead for the final spot, had so many close calls this season including a pair of runner-up finishes this year. In May, Buscher finished second place to Kyle Larson at Kansas in the closest finish in NASCAR history by 0.001. “It is definitely frustrating looking at it,” Buescher said.
Buescher also was asked about the current playoff format in which drivers earn playoff spots by just winning a race instead of based on points. The past two weeks saw first-time winners who were in playoff contention with Harrison Burton winning at Daytona and Briscoe at Darlington. “It is the system we got right?” Beuscher said. “We should have won. We knew we were going to be contenders and should have won earlier. “ Wallace entered the weekend 21 points behind Buescher but boosted his chances by sitting on the pole for Sunday’s race. He had NBA Hall of Famer and car owner Michael Jordan in his pit box all night trying to bring Wallace good luck.
Wallace knew he had to finish at least 12 spots ahead of Buescher to earn the spot if there wasn’t a first-time winner. He ran well most of the night but was caught up in a late-race, seven-car accident with 24 laps left. That ended his shot to earn a postseason spot. “I hate it for our guys,” Wallace said. “But hats off to the 14 (Briscoe). I thought I did something (Saturday) but they one-upped us and showed up when it was game time. It’s pretty badass so congrats to them. “Just wasn’t good enough for 16th this year and I hate that. … It wasn’t for a lack of effort on this 23 car.”
