Kyle Busch finished second at the TicketGuardian 500 in Phoenix on Sunday. More importantly, he picked up his first playoff point for winning a stage.
Chasing down Kevin Harvick has all been but an impossible task for the last three weeks. Through one stage on Sunday, Kyle Busch appeared to be a strong contender to bring an end to the No. 4’s winning streak.
The TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway proved to be good to the driver of the black Skittles Sweet Heat car. While he had the speed through the first two stages, the battles with teammate Denny Hamlin and Harvick were where the No. 18 had his toughest work to do.
Harvick ultimately put away the two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, and Busch had enough to secure a second-place finish for the second time this season. While “Rowdy” certainly wanted to come away with a win, picking up a playoff point ended up being something to hold onto.
While it’s something to build on as the season goes, Busch doesn’t feel as if he’s found his groove just yet.
“No, it’s a long year,” Busch said after the race. “I think you just go week by week. I just don’t you think ever feel ready.
“You got to be ready for Daytona, that’s where the season begins.” Busch continued, while looking worn down after a hot day on the track. “The real season everyone says starts at Atlanta. I wouldn’t say our season has started today. We ran second last week.”
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Having two second-place finishes in back-to-back weeks is a sign of things turning in the right direction for the former champion. In fact, he was impressed with the way his team turned his car into a second-place car by Sunday’s race.
“We’ve been doing what we do and that’s just going to the race track each week and focusing on how we can make ourselves better. Yesterday, we were absolutely not a second-place car. Our guys went to work and did a fantastic job of getting us there.”
With pride in his performance at Phoenix along with a playoff point and stage win in hand, Busch looked to next week at California.
“We actually had a shot for the win today. We Just go into next week looking to do the same thing, trying to do the same thing and run a good, smooth clean race out there and try to win.”