NASCAR champion Kyle Busch speaks out on Talladega penalty that 'threw' his race away

Kyle Busch has opened up on the moment he wrecked his race chances at Talladega last weekend.

The driver of the #8 car was running well as he looked to secure his first win since the 2023 season, in contention to pick up the pieces of any Big One the famous circuit is notorious for.

Speaking after the race, the veteran Cup Series star admitted that he had an inkling about his penalty for exiting pit road too fast before he got official word of the infraction.

The penalty came late in the race which, combined with Talladega's profile as a super-fast drafting track, all but removed Busch for contention for a good finish.

Busch refuses to make excuses for penalty

Speaking on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, he said: “What's funny is that when we were having our damage repair and everything, I was like, okay, if I get back into this thing, how hard can I leave my box in order to get to the line as fast as I can, to exit hard and build my speed because I was pit box six.

“So I was like okay, can I be up to speed by the time I get to the line, and so I practised it like four or five times, and so then I'm like alright, I'm ready for it, here we go, this is my moment.

“And then I gas it up and I get up and I look to the right and the 21 just gets by me and I get in line with the 21 and I'm following them and I look down, I'm like I didn't see any lights.”

“And I was like...I think I’m too fast. So me following the 21’s pace of what he was rolling obviously baited me into speeding as well. Excuses are excused, I sped, and yeah, threw our race away. I think we were gonna finish somewhere 8th to 12th.”

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