Kyle Busch’s surge derailed by wreck

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made sure Busch never got the chance.

Busch was caught up in a massive wreck triggered by Earnhardt with 75 laps remaining at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, smashing the front of his No. 18 Toyota and ending a weekend of frustration.

Earnhardt was a lap down when he tried to pass Brian Vickers along the backstretch following a restart.

Vickers responded by going low to block Earnhardt, sending him down below the yellow out-of-bounds line.

When Earnhardt re-entered the racing surface, he clipped the left-rear corner of Vickers’ car to start a chain reaction that took out nine cars, including Busch. The 23-year-old led a race-high 88 laps and seemed to have one of the strongest cars in the 43-car field.

“I think we were the best car out there,” said Busch, who finished 41st. “We were awfully good and just running out front and biding our time.

“I don’t think we fell worse than sixth or fifth the whole time out there. Just a really sad feeling.”

One that has become all too familiar for Busch.

He won a 150-mile qualifying race Thursday and then finished a close second to Todd Bodine in the truck race Friday when his attempt to bump Bodine out of the way on the last lap propelled Bodine to victory instead.

Busch found himself in the exact same position on the last lap of Saturday’s Nationwide Series race, getting right on Tony Stewart’s bumper heading into Turn 3 in an effort to send Stewart up the track. Stewart held on to win while Busch faded to fourth.

“I was frustrated going into this race,” Busch said. “This is about a 15 on a 10-scale.”

One that might escalate one of NASCAR’s blossoming rivalries.

Busch is the hot-tempered, hard-charging malcontent who seems to embrace his role as NASCAR’s resident villain.

And Earnhardt, one of the circuit’s most popular drivers, cost Busch a job at Hendrick Motorsports after the 2007 season when owner Rick Hendrick lured Earnhardt away from Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Busch landed at Joe Gibbs Racing and has become one of NASCAR’s most successful drivers.

Yet the Daytona 500 continues to tease him.

He led 86 laps during last year’s race but stumbled down the stretch while trying to work with then-teammate Tony Stewart, finishing fourth.

On Sunday, Busch wasted little time zipping to the front and seemed to be able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

That ended when Earnhardt and Vickers got into it, and Busch didn’t miss an opportunity to tweak Earnhardt as Busch stomped toward his hauler as fans on a nearby verandah booed him.

“It’s unfortunate that a guy that has messed up his whole day on pit road and screwed up had to make our day worse,” Busch said of Earnhardt, who was a lap down because of a pair of pit-stop miscues. “It wasn’t our problem that he was a lap down and fighting with another lapped car, because I don’t even know what they’re fighting for.

“The outside lane was coming. Those cars should have sat there and waited and got back in line when they could.”

Instead, Earnhardt and Vickers cost Busch a chance to capture NASCAR’s signature event. Asked how just how big he thought Earnhardt’s mistake was, Busch shook his head.

“It looked pretty big to me,” he said. “It cost a winning car a chance to win the race.”