‘Time is running out’: Busch looks to keep NASCAR win streak alive

Las Vegas native and NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch said that he’s fully aware that he’s running out of time to get a win this season.

Busch, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, has won a race in 19 consecutive seasons. That’s every season he’s been a full-time driver in the Cup Series.

There are just four races left in the season. Busch qualified 20th for Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The green flag will fly at 11:30 a.m.

“Time is running out,” Busch said at a news conference Saturday. “We’re getting close to the end of the year. I feel like this place is probably one of our best chances of being able to go out there and get that win this year.”

Busch has six top-10 finishes in his last eight races at the 1½-mile oval. He finished third in last year’s South Point 400. At the Pennzoil 400 in March, Busch had a pit road penalty that took him out of contention for a top-10 run, and he finished 26th.

“All you can do this week is try each week and go through the best you can and execute and put yourself in the right spot to have the best shot to win,” Busch said.

Busch did not qualify for the NASCAR playoffs. He has 10 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 17.7 and is 20th in the point standings. Last year, in his first season at Richard Childress Racing, Busch won three times in the first 15 races and finished 14th in the final standings.

Busch and his team found some speed late in the summer as he tried to make the playoffs. He finished fourth in August at Michigan, another intermediate track similar to Las Vegas, and was second at Darlington in the regular season-finale.

“We’ve had some good runs here of late. We had some really good speed here in the spring,” Busch said. “We had some good speed in the spring race at Kansas and the fall race at Kansas. We kind of relate these two places similar to each other. We’ve got to go out there and execute and do a good job. Having fast cars cures all.”

The 39-year-old said he feels similar pressure to get a win as he did a few months ago to try and make the playoffs. Busch said he isn’t trying to add any extra pressure to what he’s already feeling.

“You try to let everything flow together and come to you and happen naturally,” Busch said. “Those have been my best races that I’ve had. My two championships that I’ve won, I’ve been in that mindset. I’ve learned in those instances on how to excel and would love to have it be that way again to win here on Sunday.”

In 2020, Busch was in a similar situation. During the COVID-impacted season in which drivers didn’t practice or qualify for races, Busch didn’t get his lone win on the season until late October at Texas.

“This year, we’ve kind of felt like we’ve qualified well at some places, but we don’t start the race well,” Busch said. “We’re kind of behind trying to figure it out, get the balance right for the end of the race, and by then it’s a little too late. We’ve run into that same predicament, but it’s gotten down closer to the end and we don’t have that victory yet.”

Xfinity results

A.J. Allmendinger picked the perfect time to get his first win of the season in the Xfinity Series. Allmendinger held off a late charge from Ryan Sieg and survived a late restart to win Saturday’s Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The win locks Allmendinger into the Championship 4 at Phoenix on Nov. 9. Allmendinger entered Las Vegas in seventh in the playoff standings and 18 points below the cutline for the top four in the standings.

“I absolutely love these guys and girls at Kaulig Racing,” Allmendinger said. “It’s been a lot of ups and downs. What I love about them is we stick together and we keep fighting.”

Allmendinger led a race-high 102 laps. A late caution with seven laps to go forced a restart, and Allmendinger’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet pulled away from Sieg, who had chased down Allmendinger in the final 30 laps.

“I just struggled on that last restart,” said Sieg, who is winless in 363 Xfinity Series starts. “I got a little better, but still struggled. Just not enough.”

Las Vegas native Riley Herbst, the lone local in the race, finished seventh. He led four laps in Stage 1. Herbst was eliminated from the Xfinity Series playoffs after last week’s race at The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.