KANSAS CITY, Kans. — Playoff drivers Kyle Busch and William Byron, along with Ty Gibbs, each will start at the rear for Sunday’s Cup race at Kansas Speedway after issues in practice Saturday.
MORE: Kansas starting lineup
Busch and Gibbs each blew a right rear tire and hit the wall. Busch’s team was making repairs Saturday. Gibbs’ team went to a backup car. They both did not make a qualifying attempt Saturday.
“Just like every other weekend,” Busch told NBC Sports’ Kim Coon. “Always put in a hole. Always put behind. Always have to come and dig ourselves out.
“Hate it for all the guys. The car was really good. Had good longevity there. We were just running laps, running some pretty good laps comparatively to the rest of our group that we were with at that time. Just going to fine tune on some things to qualify and here we are starting last again. Just never ends. I don’t know what to do to change it.”
Busch is seventh in the playoff standings. He’s 20 points ahead of Bubba Wallace, the first driver outside a transfer spot.
Byron’s car broke a front suspension piece. It was replaced before qualifying.
Byron is the points leader. He has a 45-point advantage on Wallace.
“I think the first stage, the goal would try to be 10th to 12th, I think is realistic,” Byron said. “If we have a good car, I think we can do that. We had a great car today. I don’t see any reason not to do that. We’ve just got to go to work (Sunday) … and hopefully we can make it up from there.”
Sunday’s race airs at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network. Countdown to Green airs at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
