"Kind of self-eliminated us" - $80M-worth Kyle Busch takes blame for not making the playoffs with RCR

Ahead of the first Round of 16 race, Kyle Busch has addressed reasons for not qualifying for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Despite an underwhelming season, the two-time Cup Series champion came close in the final three races of the regular season by securing two runner-up finishes.

In a recent media interaction, Busch, worth $80 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth), talked about the unfortunate runs and the experiments the #8 Richard Childress Racing team did this year for a better run in the future. He said (via Bob Pockrass):

"Just didn't execute well enough and have the pace that we needed to through the summer, crashed a lot, and so that just kind of self-eliminated us. I think we did enough experimenting through the year on things that didn't work. So it seems like we've kind of gotten a little bit of a path towards what we think does work."

Before NASCAR broke for the two-week break for the Paris Olympics, the 39-year-old had five DNFs in seven consecutive races and it was considered his worst run ever in his two-decade career. Since then, Busch has shown better speed and battled hard for a spot in the 2024 playoff rounds.

While discussing his previous two runner-up finishes, Kyle Busch emphasized getting closer to the victory lane at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race at Daytona International Speedway.

"I thought that when we missed all the wrecks at Daytona and I wasn't involved in one of them and we were still clean, I was like, 'wow, if I don't get this man, then life's really not on my side.' So ultimately it didn't happen, but that is what it is."

"I was actually pleasantly surprised and happy with the result from Darlington of what we were able to do there and getting ourselves in contention with the second place there, but really did think that our shot was going to be Daytona," Kyle Busch added.

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Kyle Busch discusses his game plan for the first race of the 2024 playoffs

As NASCAR returns to its drafting track for the second time this year, Kyle Busch talked about his previous visit to the Atlanta Motor Speedway and his dramatic three-wide photo finish.

Busch is hoping to bring back the same "game plan" for the first race of the Round of 16. He said (via Speedway Media):

"We had a game plan on what we needed to be better. We came back with more speed and a lot better car for the spring Atlanta race this year. I’m hoping that that same amount of notes and success translates to the race this weekend."

Moreover, Busch weighed on his approach for the Quaker State 400 race and said:

"Atlanta now takes a lot of speed, but also a car that handles well. You have to pick the right line at the right time to get yourself in a spot where you can log some laps, especially in the middle stage of the race, and not get caught up in a crash when cars start to handle differently and mistakes are made."

So far in his 26 starts this season, Kyle Busch has secured five top-fives and nine top-10 finishes and only managed to lead 167 laps.