Kyle Busch credits major chassis adjustments for top-10 finish at Sonoma following poor race start  

Kyle Busch battled through major car issues and a poor start to secure a 10th-place finish at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, July 14, during the Toyota/Save Mart 350. The veteran NASCAR driver, now in his 21st Cup Series season, credited the mid-race chassis adjustments for salvaging a top-10 result after initially falling to the back of the field.

This is the second straight road course race in which Busch managed a comeback. After spinning in both the Chicago Street Race and Sonoma, the No. 8 car managed to end up in the top 10 each time. The finish in Sonoma came after a fifth-place result in Chicago. This is the first time since March that Kyle Busch has scored consecutive top-10 finishes. At the start of the race, Busch said his Chevrolet Camaro had,

“No drive or rear lateral any direction,”

This forced him to fall back. Crew chief Randall Burnett then called for changes during an early stop, adjusting the rear chassis setup to help the car gain grip. In a quote to NBC Sports, Kyle Busch explained the whole thing, saying,

“We had to come from behind all day with our zone Chevrolet…After falling to the back, Randall and the guys made the call for major chassis adjustments to get the rears working. Those adjustments definitely helped, just wished I could have had that same adjustment again without giving up the track position.”

As the race continued, the car gradually improved. Busch added,

“We kept working on the balance and in Stage 3, the car was the best it had been. It was simply avoiding wrecks at the end. Proud of the No. 8 team for pushing through and getting a top-10 finish.”

After this race, Kyle Busch sits 37 points behind 16th-place Bubba Wallace in the Cup Series standings. With six races left before the playoffs, he's very much still in the hunt for a postseason spot.

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Shane van Gisbergen sets the road course bar — and Kyle Busch knows it

When Kyle Busch met with reporters ahead of the Sonoma weekend, the topic of road racing dominance came up. Busch didn’t hold back in showing respect for the New Zealand driver and race winner, admitting that matching Gisbergen’s skill level would be nearly impossible, even over his entire career.

Gisbergen, who won at Sonoma on Sunday and is widely known as a road course expert, earned high praise from Busch. Speaking with the media at the track, Busch said,

“He’s just really, really good. He has the heel-toe method, I know. So, for me to try to figure that out, it would be until my retirement before I’m even 10% as good as he is at it, so that’s out the window.” (1:20 onwards)

According to Kyle Busch, part of Gisbergen’s outstanding performance may be tied to his background. He added,

“Maybe it’s because he grew up running on road courses,”

“I mean just the longevity of it all—but we’ve also had others that have been here that have grown up just doing that as well so I don’t know.”

This level of acknowledgment coming from someone with two Cup Series championships goes to show just how highly Gisbergen is regarded. Kyle Busch has 19 career starts at Sonoma, with wins in 2008 and 2015.

He is also currently in his third season with Richard Childress Racing, and is still looking for his first win of 2025. With 432 points and just six regular-season races remaining, the pressure is growing.