Kyle Busch describes the “calamity and chaos” of the Chicago race as he secures a much-needed top 5 position

Kyle Busch secured a much-needed top-five finish in a race he described as chaotic. His Chicago street race result was his second top-five finish of the year, which allowed him to move up the standings and get closer to the playoff cutline in 19th.

During the Grant Park 165 in Chicago, Busch, 40, started the race in sixth. The #8 Richard Childress Racing driver had a moment on lap 34, where he spun out of the top 10. He was also penalized for driving through several pit boxes, resulting in a 31st-place finish at the end of the second stage.

The #8 team decided to pit from 13th on lap 62 for fresher tires. The tire strategy worked in their favor, allowing the Las Vegas native to get back up to the field. He eventually crossed the line in fifth, with Shane van Gisbergen sweeping the race weekend (he won the Cup and Xfinity Series races in Chicago).

Speaking about tire strategies amid a chaotic road course slugfest, Kyle Busch told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on X [1:36]:

“Obviously, there was a lot of calamity and chaos happening in front of us with again, guys on older tires... guys on fresher tires. The pace difference between those and a lot of contact that was happening on restarts with guys close together.”

“We made our way through some of the chaos there, and we were able to get ourselves back to the top five for a good, solid top-five finish... so, proud of the effort,” he added.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion argued that his #8 Chevy was capable of keeping up with the frontrunners in Windy City, concluding:

“Car was fast. I felt like the pace of our Slurpee machine was capable of running second to Shane (van Gisbergen) or even third, maybe third to the #45 (Tyler Reddick). I felt like the #45 and us were really evenly matched... so, we would have been right there with those guys.”

After scoring 41 points in the Chicago street race, Kyle Busch has collected 397 points, 46 points away from the playoff cutline. Bubba Wallace holds the 16th seed, with Ryan Preece and AJ Allmendinger right in the vicinity.

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“Good rebound”: Kyle Busch on top-five finish on the streets of Chicago

Kyle Busch expressed gratitude to the #8 Richard Childress Racing team for a strong recovery in the Chicago street race. Their efforts allowed him to post another decent result in a road course following his first top-five finish earned at Circuit of the Americas.

In an X post, the 63-time Cup race winner wrote:

“Good rebound after going around early. Was ripping that last run and got all the way up to 5th. Thanks to the boys for another solid road course piece 👊🏻.”

Next on his calendar is the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, scheduled for July 13 at 3:30 p.m. ET. He will arrive at the 1.99-mile circuit as a two-time race winner (2008 and 2015), which he accomplished during his time at Joe Gibbs Racing.