Busch finishes P3 at Las Vegas

Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M'S Toyota Camry 

Race Recap for the South Point 400

Date: Oct. 16, 2022

Event: South Point 400 (Round 33 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)

Start/Finish: 18th/3rd (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)

Point Standing: 14th with 2,158 points

Race Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)

Notes:

● Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry, finished third in Sunday’s South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway

● Busch started 18th, but moved up through the field quickly, making it up to 10th by lap 17 and up into the top-five on lap 42.

● The two-time Cup Series champion told crew chief Ben Beshore that the handling was getting more loose as the laps went by, and on lap 72, Busch lost the handle and spun by himself coming out of turn 4 and into the infield grass.

●The M&M’S driver pitted immediately after the spin and the No. 18 team worked on fixing mostly minor damage, as Busch was scored 33rd and one lap down to the leaders on the lap 85 restart to being Stage 2.

● Busch decided to stay out under a lap 98 caution and take the wave around to get his lap back when the rest of the leaders pit. The move paid off quickly as an incident on the ensuing restart bunched the field back up again and Busch was able to come down pit road for fresh tires and fuel, as he was scored in the 23rd spot on the lap 106 restart.

● The Las Vegas native was able to show his car still had speed, as he worked his way up into the top-15 by lap 120 and up into 11th by lap 142 and into the top-10 at the end of Stage 2.

● Busch restarted the final stage in the ninth spot and moved himself all the way up to the fifth position on lap 201.

● A caution waved on lap 227 and Busch pitted one lap later, but as he exited pit road, his left front wheel was not tightened and came off as he tried to limp back to pit road. The team was able to put a tire on, but now Busch was forced to restart 26th on the next restart.

● Busch was not deflated by the penalty, as he went to work immediately, as he moved up to 17th by lap 240 and scooted all the way up to fourth with 12 laps to go.

● The M&M’S driver moved up to third with a few laps to go and was chasing down second-place Ross Chastain when the checkered flag waved with an improbable comeback to finish in the top-three at his hometown track.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

“We just kept fighting and digging hard all day long. We had a really fast M&M’s Toyota Camry TRD anyway. Not as good as the Penske guys, they really have a hold of this place. We worked on ours all day long and got it better. Top-five car and got a third-place finish. Just salvaged what we could there after a lot of ups and downs. Thanks to the guys, good pit stops all day, and I left a little early on that one when we lost the wheel. All in all, we had a good recovery. Thanks to Rowdy Energy, Interstate Batteries, Rheem, Stanley, Breathe Right. This is a good a good finish here. Just trying to get back into the top-10 in points, that’s where it’s at.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Dixie Vodka 400 on Sunday, Oct. 23, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.