Race Cars Are Not An Efficient Tool For Removing Grass, Kyle Busch
After finally cracking into the top 30 in the Sprint Cup standings last weekend with a second place finish at Watkins Glen, Kyle Busch had an unfortunate off in practice this morning that will force him to use a back-up car for tomorrow's race. Per Autoweek, that back-up car means he'll start from the back.
Whoops.
Here's why Busch is going to have to fight from the back of the field in tomorrow's Pure Michigan 400:
Busch explained the oops to Autoweek:
I was just running along, everything was fine and I was actually feeling pretty good about it. Just started to get a little free up off of (turn) four. It started stepping out like it did here in the spring. I over-corrected and hit the wall, so this time around I just kind of made it keep rotating and head down towards the infield.
Busch has been a vocal critic of grass around race tracks this season, claiming that grass often presents its own hazard. If there's one thing that he'd like to exact his revenge against, it's probably infield grass, so I'm sure there's no love lost for the turf stuck in the front of his NAS-Camry.
While Busch could keep this freshly harvested sod and turn his car into a bright green carbon-offsetting hippie racer like this enterprising 24 Hours of LeMons team did for the Doing Time In Joliet race, there are far better ways to yank up sod than with the front of a race car. You know, by using lawn machinery that doesn't need to start a race the next day.
It seems weird to be talking about a possible Chase for the Sprint Cup entry for a dude who missed a large chunk of the year due to a leg injury at Daytona, but it seems even weirder at this point for a guy with four wins this season not to make it in.
To do so, though, NASCAR has mandated that Busch finishes in the top 30 before the Chase fires up. Now that he's in the top 30, he has to stay there for the four remaining races for a shot at the Sprint Cup. While it shouldn't be hard for him to claw his way through the field to the front, a last place start is an inconvenient place to be to get enough points to stay put or jump ahead in the standings.
Photo credits: Getty Images, 24 Hours of LeMons
Contact the author at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com.