DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kyle Busch fell short of the Daytona 500 win yet again on Sunday night due to circumstances outside of his control. He made this clear by making blunt comments about NASCAR and Joey Logano.
The comments about Logano -- someone Busch has butted heads with in the past -- came after a wreck collected the No. 8 Chevrolet and multiple other cars. Logano tried to move through the middle of the pack but collided with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as the Hyak Motorsports driver attempted a block.
Stenhouse spun into Ryan Blaney and then Busch. This triggered a chain reaction that also collected Noah Gragson, Cole Custer, Chase Elliott, and Todd Gilliland.
"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
"Looked like the fastest car got in a hurry to get to the wreck," Busch told Fox Sports' Regan Smith. "Logano was by far the fastest car today. Saw a lot of laps led and he could about do anything. The Penske cars were very strong.
"We still got 20 laps to go and he's trying to go through the middle and make a hole that isn't there and just created chaos. ...You gotta know how wide your race car is to find a hole that it will fit in. And he obviously doesn't know that."
Busch was not the only person who made comments about the Team Penske driver. The topic of whether any drivers made "dumb moves" was brought up during William Byron's post-race press conference. Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon responded by saying, "Joey did."
Busch's No. 8 Chevrolet did not sustain significant damage in the crash, so it should have been able to continue in the race. This did not happen, which led to multiple comments about NASCAR and the new DVP rules.
As a quick recap, NASCAR updated its DVP procedures over the offseason to allow teams to continue racing. One change involved the DVP clock. If it expires, the team with the damaged car has to move to the garage for repairs. It can then return to the race.
The other change is that cars can be towed to the garage for repairs. They will not automatically be ruled out of the race as in past seasons.
These updated procedures did not prevent him from being suddenly ruled out of the race.
"Got beat by NASCAR procedures again, not being able to get back out onto the race track," Busch said after exiting the infield care center.
Parked by @nascar officials. Rule says you have 3 attempts to make minimum speed. The race never went back green yet. I don’t even think they know their own rules or procedures. 🤬
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) February 17, 2025
Busch's car was stuck on the track after the multi-car incident started by Logano and Stenhouse. This should not have been an issue as his No. 8 Chevrolet had the new air jack system installed that would allow the track crews to lift the rear of the car up enough for the driver to limp it back to pit road on flat tires.
The problem for Busch is that the track crews had empty air bottles, so they couldn't use the lift system. Busch and Richard Childress Racing then tried to get a push from the tow truck that would help the No. 8 get enough momentum to make it back to pit road.
The track crews ignored this request and hooked the Chevrolet up to the tow truck. The crews towed the car to a work area where the No. 8 team determined that there wasn't anything majorly wrong. They installed new tires and sent Busch back out onto the track.
The No. 8 team is not happy with the track crew that decided to tow Busch instead of giving him a push.
"They don't give two f*cks about listening to you."— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) February 17, 2025
The two-time Cup Series champion returned to his team before the race went green so that they could further work on the No. 8 Chevrolet. However, NASCAR ruled him out of the race.
"We put four new tires on it to go back out to basically see what the next process was going to be for us," Busch said. "And then was told that if you need to work on it and repair it, you need to go back to that place. But if you go back to that place, they park you.
"So what are we supposed to do to work on it now that we've got four new tires on it and all the wheels are pointed in the right direction?"
According to Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass, NASCAR said the DVP rule is that the driver can only leave the garage once to meet minimum speed. They can not return to the garage or pit road for further repairs before meeting the minimum. The race did not go green before Busch left the track again, so NASCAR ruled him out.