During a Goodyear tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, Kyle Busch was involved in a crash, as confirmed by a team spokesperson to NBC Sports. Busch was evaluated and released following the incident, and the team will not be returning for Wednesday’s tire test. Denny Hamlin is among those participating in the tire test for the upcoming July 21 Cup race on the oval at Indianapolis, which will be broadcasted by NBC.
Meanwhile, NASCAR recently granted Kyle Larson a playoff waiver after he missed the start of the Coca-Cola 600 due to racing in the Indianapolis 500. Busch, on the other hand, fell out of a playoff spot following a 35th place finish in the previous weekend’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
In that race, Busch was racing against Kyle Larson for seventh place on the final lap of the second stage when the two made contact. This resulted in Larson spinning and hitting Busch’s car, causing it to crash into the wall. Busch has not won a race in his past 36 attempts, matching the longest winless streak in his Cup career.
As the series heads to Sonoma Raceway this weekend, Busch finds himself 20 points behind Chris Buescher, who currently holds the final playoff spot with 11 races remaining in the regular season. It will be critical for Busch to turn his luck around in the upcoming races to secure a spot in the playoffs.