Kyle Busch comes oh so close once again in Las Vegas

A Sprint Cup regular not winning a Nationwide race is normally not a big deal becuase let’s face it – they win enough already. Then there’s Kyle Busch and Las Vegas.

Busch has been successful at winning multiple Nationwide Series races  a season in trips down to NASCAR’s second-tier division – as expected. In his career to date, he has three seasons where he’s won 10 or more races.

Though even with 64 wins to date, there’s one track that has eluded him – his home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Busch has won there in the Sprint Cup Series, though not in the Nationwide Series. Busch finished second last year, while the previous two years before that he has wrecked out of the event.

Most tracks would become a slip of the mind and not matter – however with being his home track, it remains on the mind of Busch and bugs him more than most.

This year, it was like the same story was written again. Busch was left to think about that win that eludes him while Keselowski celebrated in victory lane.

“It was good, I guess,” Busch commented afterwards. “We finished second so that’s not too bad of a day. The car was probably good enough. Driver, crew – I think everybody did a great job. Just a couple pieces that are lacking and it’s frustrating to have to deal with that year end and year out – but oh well.”

Busch didn’t start off the weekend like he wanted, having to go to a back-up after a practice crash due to a flat tire, and then start at the back of the field due to unapproved adjustments. However, Busch didn’t waste time getting to the front as he cracked the top 10 by lap 15.

“Our car was really good,” he commented. “A lot of those guys were super loose. We’ve seen that year in and year out so we were on the tight side, but it was easy for me to drive and make moves and pass people any which way. For having the best car – as it felt like – you should be able to do stuff like that.”

Busch got to the lead and led a majority of the race, before a late race caution due to Matt Kenseth spinning. For the next restart, Busch chose to go on the outside lane rather than the inside as he had done previously. The results didn’t pan off that well as Busch lost the lead and fell as far back as third.

“I don’t think lane choice was. My car didn’t go,” Busch commented. “I stepped on the gas and it felt like I was holding a parachute. I was third before I got to turn one. Junior was pushing me for a little bit but I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if he fell off me or what, but just wouldn’t go.”

Busch tried to run down Keselowski in the closing laps and got close, but wasn’t able to pass.

As a result, Keselowski got to celebrate in victory lane with the trophy and get all the glory – while Busch was left wondering when it would be his year.