Kyle Busch. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Kyle Busch comes up shy of Daytona 500 win once again

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Feb 17, 2025 10:16 AM ET

Unfortunately for Kyle Busch, his 20th Daytona 500 start did not play out like Dale Earnhardt's.

Twenty-seven years after Earnhardt exorcised his Daytona demons and won the 1998 Daytona 500, Busch had a chance to finally win the "Great American Race" in his 20th try, just as Earnhardt did. Busch was running inside the top five on Lap 186 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano tangled, causing a big crash that Busch was collected in.

"Looks like the fastest car got in a hurry to get to the wreck," Busch told Fox Sports. "Logano was by far the fastest car today, saw a lot of laps led. He could just about do anything, the Penske cars were very strong. We still have 20 laps to go and he's trying to go through the middle and make a hole that isn't there. (He) just created chaos."

"Looks like the fastest car got in a hurry to get to the wreck."

A disappointing ending for @KyleBusch who shares his thoughts after he was involved in a wreck in Lap 186 at the #Daytona500. pic.twitter.com/lhHKgIatBx
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 17, 2025

Even more frustrating for Busch was that his No. 8 Chevrolet was not allowed back on the track after the incident, despite Busch believing the necessary repairs had been made and that he should have been able to rejoin the race.

"Got beat by NASCAR procedures again, not being able to get back out on the racetrack," Busch told Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass. "(I) said I just wanted a push, (after the crash) so they decided for three laps to figure out how to hook it up to tow us back in. Towed us into a work area where our guys reviewed the car, looked over the car (and) didn't see anything massively wrong. All the wheels were pointed in the right direction. We put four new tires back on it to go back to see what the process was going to be for us, then was told that if you need to work on it and repair it, you need to go back to that place, (work area) but if you go back to that place, they (NASCAR) park you."

NASCAR says the DVP rule is you can only leave the garage once to reach minimum speed so since he left and never reached minimum (even though he came back when under caution), he can't go back to the garage. And he can't go to pit road for fixes in that situation (only fuel). https://t.co/imhRBeABzm
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 17, 2025

Busch finished 34th in Sunday's race, and will return to Daytona in 2026 still seeking a Daytona 500 victory.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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