Despite dominant day, Kyle Busch's winless streak lives on

All the stars in the big and bright Texas sky were aligning for Kyle Busch in Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. 

The two-time Cup Series champion entered Sunday's race at COTA on a 59-race winless streak, but for a while, it looked like the worst drought of his career would be quenched in Austin, Texas. 

Busch led a race-high 42 laps, and in Stage 1, was the only driver who was able to contend with Shane van Gisbergen for the lead. 

By flipping the stages in both Stage 1 and Stage 2, Busch was at the front of the field at the beginning of Stage 3, and on Lap 70, he made his final pit stop from the lead. 

Christopher Bell opted to run two laps longer than Busch, pitting on lap 72. After Bell exited the pits, the race became one of tire wear — was Bell's two laps advantage enough to reel in Busch? 

That question will remain forever unanswered. A Lap 78 caution for Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon brought out the final yellow flag of the afternoon and set up a pivotal restart. 

Busch came out of the Lap 83 restart unscathed and with the lead, but Bell's Toyota seemed to be a tick faster. With every passing lap, Bell was able to get right up to the back of Busch, and it seemed to be a matter of time before the Atlanta winner made the winning pass. 

Busch held serve in the top spot, however. On Lap 87, Bell overshot Turn 1 in an attempt to pass Busch. Despite the glaring mistake, Bell was right back on Busch's bumper later in the lap. 

Both Busch and Bell's day nearly ended in crumpled sheet metal on Lap 90 when the two made contact in the esses, but Busch was staunch and unmoving. 

The veteran of 20 Cup Series seasons refused to give up the lead — until he did. 

Despite Busch's best efforts, his slightly older tires were no match for Bell's two-lap fresher tires. With five laps to go, Bell passed Busch for the lead in Turn 1. 

Bell's pass for the lead started a mini-freefall for Busch, who went from first to fourth in the span of one lap. By the time the leaders crossed the stripe with three laps to go, Busch was a distant fourth and no longer in contention. 

It was a heartbreaking ending to a day that had so much promise. 

A fifth-place finish is nothing to scoff at for Busch, who only collected five top-five results in 2024. Finishes of seventh at Atlanta and fifth at COTA have Busch sitting ninth in the Cup Series standings, 14 points above the playoff cut line. 

But at the end of the day, fifth doesn't break a 59-race winless streak. It doesn't quench a career-worst drought. It doesn't secure a berth in the NASCAR playoffs. 

For Busch, a fifth-place effort at COTA represents both how close he came to proving he's still the same driver he used to be, and how far removed he is from being the venerable champion the field used to fear. 

It turns out everything is indeed bigger in Texas, including the heartbreak.