Kyle Busch looking forward to 'Inside the Playoffs' opportunity following NASCAR playoffs miss

Kyle Busch won't be racing for a third NASCAR Cup Series championship in this year's playoffs after failing to book a spot in the top 16. However, he is excited to be a part of NASCAR Studio's new show "Inside the Playoffs" in the upcoming weeks.

The two-time Cup champion and 63-time Cup race winner took to his X account on Wednesday to express his enthusiasm for being a co-host on the new NASCAR show "Inside the Playoffs." Busch wrote:

"Gonna be fun being a co-host for a couple Inside the Playoff shows! Make sure to tune in on Thursday night!"

"Inside the Playoffs" is a new weekly NASCAR recap show that airs Thursdays on truTV at 7 p.m. EST, while also being streamed on MAX. The show will be hosted by former NASCAR RaceHub host Shannon Spake, NASCAR's "Chief Hype Officer" Mamba Smith, former crew chief and current NASCAR on NBC broadcaster Steve Letarte, and The Athletic NASCAR reporter Jordan Bianchi.

Bianchi stated in a recent episode of The Teardown podcast that Busch will join as a co-host in the show's first two episodes.

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A string of poor finishes put Busch in a must-win situation for the playoffs

Busch struggled to stay in contention to point his way into the playoffs throughout the 2024 regular season. After 15 races, the Las Vegas native had recorded five top-10 finishes, but also posted five finishes outside of the top-20.

Following the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro, matters only got worse for Busch. In the next nine races, he only notched one top-10 finish, finished outside the top-20 six times and outside the top-30 four times, which continued to push him further behind the cut line to make it to the postseason and put pressure on the need for him to win in order to get in.

Busch started to build steam in the latter four races of the regular season. He racked up a 12th place finish at Richmond, started 13th, won stage two, and finished fourth the next week at Michigan. With two races to go and needing a win, Busch looked as if he was about to do so as he led on the final lap at Daytona.

Unfortunately for Busch, Parker Retzlaff, driver of the No. 62 Beard Motorsports car, pushed Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car, for the win down the backstretch on the last lap ahead of Busch's No. 8 Richard Childress Racing car.

In the last race to make the playoffs at Darlington, Busch was once again in contention as he ran second with less than 10 laps to go and was hunting down race leader Chase Briscoe. However, Busch was denied as Briscoe wheeled the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing car to victory to clinch himself a spot in the playoffs, leaving Busch out of the playoffs for the first time since 2012.