BROOKLYN, mich. — Kyle Busch slid onto the grass after coming through a turn during NASCAR Sprint Cup practice Saturday, damaging his No. 18 Toyota. He returned to the track in a backup car, but he now faces the prospect of having to start from the back Sunday in the 400-mile, 200-lap race at Michigan International Speedway.
“I was just running along, everything was fine, and I was actually feeling pretty good about it,” Busch said. “Just started to get a little free up off of (turn) four.”
Busch has won four times this year, but he’s only 30th in points because he missed 11 races after breaking his right leg and left foot in February. He needs to be in the top 30 at the end of the regular season to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and right now he’s just six points ahead of 31st-place Cole Whitt.
In other words, Busch needs to avoid major mistakes during these last four races of the regular season. Busch was sixth in qualifying Friday, but going to the backup car will force him to start from the back in Sunday’s race.
“If top 20 is it, then that’s it,” Busch said. “Michigan is not a place that I had circled on the list to go win at, so let’s just make it through (Sunday) and carry on.”
The day wasn’t a total loss for Busch. He won the Truck Series race at MIS shortly after wrecking his Cup car.
There was damage to the front of Busch’s car after he went onto the grass. The Joe Gibbs Racing star has said in the past that he thinks there’s no reason to have grass near racing surfaces, and he addressed the issue again Saturday — with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
“I think at all these racetracks we need more grass — I think more grass would be beneficial,” Busch said. “I think we should have more grass and it should be taller.”
• Busch managed to pass Ryan Blaney with only four laps remaining to win the Truck Series race.
“These trucks tend to put on a good show,” Busch said. “You can kind of draft back up on guys and use the bottom, use the top, kind of work around a little bit.”
Blaney took the lead with six laps remaining after a restart, but Busch eventually moved back in front for his 44th victory in the series. He has won each of his two truck starts this year.
