Kyle Busch was one of several playoff drivers involved in an early multi-car wreck at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday during the YellaWood 500. And for a brief moment, his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was airborne.
While racing down the backstretch of the mammoth 2.66-mile track on Lap 57 of 188, it looked like Alex Bowman in the No. 88 Chevrolet got a push from Joey Logano behind him in the No. 22 Ford. But Bowman had too much momentum and made contact with Aric Almirola, who was ahead of Bowman and leading the pack in the outside lane.
Almirola was turned and hit the wall, triggering a multi-car wreck. Busch was running behind Logano at the time and was collected in the crash, and as his car shot sideways toward the inside of the track, all four tires briefly left the track.
BIG CRASH!
Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, and Alex Bowman all with major #NASCARPlayoffs implications on @NBC! pic.twitter.com/tV3YbnMs5E
— #NASCARPlayoffs on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 4, 2020
"It's f***ing killed." –Kyle Busch
— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) October 4, 2020
In addition to Almirola, Bowman and Busch, other playoff drivers involved in the wreck included Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Ford and Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Chevrolet were also involved. But only Almirola was unable to continue racing.
The crash happened with three laps remaining in the 60-lap first stage as drivers, particularly those still in the playoffs, were racing to finish the stage in the top 10 for a few extra points.
Busch entered Sunday’s race — the second of three in the playoffs’ Round of 12 — nine points below the top-8 driver cutoff mark. He needed a strong performance to move above the cutoff going into next weekend’s elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, when the playoff field will shrink from 12 drivers down to eight.
Because Amirola wrecked out of the race, he is now in a must-win situation next weekend at Charlotte.
Although Busch and the No. 18 team were able to get the car back on the track, his problems continued. On Lap 68, his left front tire was shredded to pieces and damaged the fender. But Busch was still able to continue racing.
Look away, Kyle Busch fans.
His rough day at @TalladegaSuperS continues. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/8NspYn0EIm
— #NASCARPlayoffs on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 4, 2020
