"I wanted it so bad": Samantha Busch reacts to Kyle Busch's near-miss playoff berth

Samantha Busch, Kyle Busch’s wife, expressed her sentiments towards her husband missing out on the playoffs, saying “I wanted it so bad.” NASCAR’s regular season has officially concluded at the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway where Busch finished second behind Chase Briscoe.

“Ugh, my heart hurts for the [8] team. From the calls to the stops to the driving, they dug hard all night. I wanted it so bad for them,” Samantha Busch wrote in an Instagram post.

Regardless, Samantha Busch is proud of her husband’s camp for its regular season run, especially for the past few weeks where the Richard Childress Racing No. 8 Chevrolet driver had chances of winning races. She added:

“Proud to see the strides they made over the past few weeks and watching Kyle contend for the win these last few races.”

At the recently-concluded Darlington race, RCR driver Kyle Busch, who was running with fresher tires, was in the position to pass Briscoe in the final laps. However, the No. 8 Chevy got in the wind of Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 14 Ford, hence losing grip. In turn, Briscoe managed to fend off Busch and cross the checkered flag first.

Busch was just 0.361 seconds behind Briscoe. The latter clinched the 14th playoff spot, with Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs completing the 16-driver playoff picture on points.

The result at Darlington was reminiscent of the previous race at Daytona where Busch finished just behind Harrison Burton. The No. 21 Ford driver earned his first NASCAR Cup Series win and gave the Wood Brothers Racing team its 100th win.

The race on the Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this February was even tighter, with Busch crossing the line alongside Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney for a three-wide photo finish. He was 0.007 short of the race winner, Daniel Suarez.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion finished the 2024 regular season with 587 points.

With Busch out of the playoffs, his 11-year streak of Cup Series Playoff appearances has ended. He only missed the playoffs three times, namely in 2005, 2009, and 2012.

Other 2023 playoff contenders who will miss the postseason this year are Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Michael McDowell.

"Keep the win streak alive" - Samantha Busch on husband's 19-year winning streak

While it is unfortunate to see the 11-year playoff run come to a close, Busch’s 19-year streak of winning at least one race in a season is still alive. As a quick recap, the 63-time NASCAR Cup Series winner’s last victory was at the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 4 last year.

Samantha Busch cheered on her husband to keep the streak rolling. She said:

“10 more races to keep the win streak alive!”

Busch will have a chance to win at least one of the 10 races in the playoffs, starting with the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart from Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 8. The season finale will be held at the Phoenix Raceway in Arizona scheduled on November 10.