Kyle Busch wound up second in Sunday’s Daytona 500 and is still looking for his first win in “The Great American Race.”
Busch was outrun by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin who won the race and the plan to get to the front between the duo did not work out for the driver of the No. 18 Toyota.
“It’s first and foremost to try to make sure that we at least get a JGR car to Victory Lane,” Busch said about the plan to work together. “They didn’t want to do it the previous restart, but then since he got the lead, he wanted to do it again.
“You know, it is what it is. Just at least we got a JGR car in Victory Lane. That’s the big picture. That’s what matters, and we move on.”
See Also: Race Recap and Results
Despite being happy one of his teammates won in Hamlin, Busch still felt like Sunday was a prime shot for him to finally win the 500. While he understands how things played out, Busch was still frustrated by the turn of events.
“Yeah, I mean, the 11, we try to work together as much as we can,” he said. “You kind of see it sometimes at other racetracks, as well. But here at restrictor plates, when you have guys like that up front, you try to work together as much as you can, and that situation kept presenting itself, and it just was what it was.
“I’d much rather see a JGR car no offense, but I’d much rather see a JGR car in Victory Lane more than anybody else. So I felt like keeping our strength in numbers lined up was going to be the best we could be.”
Even with the disappointment, Busch took a moment to reflect on what the win meant to JGR as a whole and the emotional tied to Hamlin’s win with the passing of JD Gibbs.
“….it certainly is a very bittersweet situation for myself because I’d have much rather have been the one to win the race and be in Victory Lane and celebrating with my team and with everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing and being a part of the J.D. celebration, but overall, you know, you couldn’t be more thrilled for all the 500 people back at Joe Gibbs Racing that knew and respected and obviously looked up to J.D. for the person that he was and for the relationships that he gave all of us,” Busch said.
