Kyle Busch overcomes frustration to win on a wild night on dirt

By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch seems to win at Bristol Motor Speedway in cars he doesn’t love.

Back in the debut of what was called the "Car of Tomorrow" in 2007, he won and then got out of the car and blasted it.

A week ago, he said NASCAR racing Cup cars on dirt sets the sport back — but as he showed Sunday night in the Food City Dirt Race, he can still win amid the frustration.

Busch was running third on the final lap Sunday of the Bristol dirt race when Chase Briscoe tried to pass Tyler Reddick for the win and collected Reddick, allowing Busch to slip by for the victory. Reddick, who led 99 laps, finished second. Briscoe, who led 59 laps, finished 22nd.

"Real pumped to get a win," Busch said. "This one means a lot. I can win on any surface here at Bristol. Bring it on."

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Here are three takeaways from a long night — there were two red flags because of rain — on the Bristol dirt.

Busch wins for 18th consecutive year

Busch tied a NASCAR record held by Richard Petty with at least one win in 18 consecutive seasons.

Busch thought it was only the third time in nine races this year that he truly had a chance to win late in the race.

"I don't think the win here tonight really says anything about our season," he said. "We all have had some vocal meetings this year with some struggles and things like that."

The win didn’t just vault Busch into the Cup playoffs. It also could be pivotal, as Joe Gibbs Racing is looking for a sponsor for Busch for next season. While he isn’t likely to leave, that can’t be ruled out until a sponsor is signed for Busch.

"We've got a couple people we're talking to, so we're excited about that, excited about the leads," said team vice chairman Coy Gibbs, son of Joe Gibbs. "I think anytime you win, it helps."

Reddick-Briscoe cordial after disappointment

As he walked up pit road to apologize to Reddick after the race, Briscoe acknowledged: "If he punches me, he punches me. I get it."

There were no punches thrown.

"It’s certainly a tough way to lose a race," said Reddick, who thought he played it too conservative at the end. "There are a number of things I could do better. ... Something I’ve done a lot in my racing career is just to push too hard in the wrong opportunity and give the race away.

"Just a little too safe on the last lap."

Briscoe said he was going for the win but couldn’t complete what appeared to be a pretty risky move with not a big chance of working.

"I was wanting to race him clean," Briscoe said. "I wasn’t going to wreck him for the win. That’s why I tried to slide him, and I was trying to leave him enough if I didn’t get there and that was my fault, 100 percent.

"I hate it for Tyler. He’s a good friend of mine, and I wanted to see a dirt guy win if it wasn’t me. ... I tried throwing a slider, and it was the wrong move."

Bizarre scoring part leads to confusion

With this being just the second Cup race on dirt, NASCAR had its challenges. It had to throw a competition caution 15 laps into the race, as cars collected too much mud and were in danger of overheating.

Those issues went away, but then teams found themselves in a state of confusion when it started raining at the end of the second stage. Typically, caution laps are counted at the stage breaks, but the dirt race rules were different, and they didn’t count. The reason: Because teams couldn’t lose spots on pit road — NASCAR didn’t think it was safe to go from the dirt surface to concrete road in a racing environment — NASCAR didn’t allow teams to bring their regular pit crews and gave them just six minutes to work on the cars at the stage breaks.

Those who pitted during the breaks couldn’t lose spots to others on pit road, but those who stayed out and did not pit restarted ahead of those who did. Kyle Busch stayed out at the end of the second stage, and when rain forced NASCAR to stop the race, he thought he would be the winner if the race couldn’t continue. 

During the red flag, NASCAR said he wouldn’t become the leader until the race went back to green and the laps started counting again — and if the race wasn’t resumed, Briscoe, who pitted from the front spot, would be the winner.

Busch hung out at the NASCAR hauler until the rain stopped and then resumed, and a huge controversy never happened.

"I thought we were the leader," Busch said. "I don't know how we would not have been the leader. They opened pit road. People pitted. Other people stayed out. That's a strategy call. That sets up everybody for the end of their race, right?

"I don't know how you could not say that we were not the leader. There were eight others that stayed out with us. I would bet they were right there with us on that call."

Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!