Kyle Busch’s tire problem Sunday was all too familiar.
A day after a right-front tire blew on the last lap, costing him a win in the Xfinity race, a right-front tire problem struck two laps from the scheduled finish while he was running second. Busch finished 25th, ending his streak of eight consecutive top-five runs, dating back to last season.
As Busch drove around the track with his tire coming apart, his spotter requested that he stay on the apron to avoid any debris coming on the track.
Busch replied: “You mean I’m going to get debris on the track and cause a yellow?’'
His spotter replied: “Yellow is already out. That’s over and done with.’'
Busch expressed his displeasure on the radio after Saturday’s Xfinity race that NASCAR didn’t call a caution on the final lap after his tire blew. Had a caution been called while he was leading, he would have won that race, which would have been his fourth consecutive series victory.
Instead, he left Auto Club Speedway with two right-front tire issues that potentially cost him two wins.
After leaving the track, Busch went to Twitter to discuss the matter:
4 all those blaming me 4 bring out the last caution, the yellow was already out b4 I could get to pit road and that's why I stayed out.
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) March 21, 2016
Pit road was closed and that's a penalty. Duh RT @waterfrontcomic: @KyleBusch why didn't you put if the caution was out then?
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) March 21, 2016
We're u driving? No. Shut up. I Couldn't catch the leader and was chilling last 10 laps. RT @d_pyburn: ... https://t.co/aH8dI0fJ90
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) March 21, 2016