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Kyle Busch on fueling issues: "Nothing surprises me anymore"

Kyle Busch’s frustration at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International continued on Sunday during the Go Bowling at The Glen after a problem pit stop just before the final stage of the race forced him to return to the pit lane.

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images

After leading 31 laps, he found himself restarting deep in the field for the final stage, but he rebounded for an impressive third-place finish.

Although the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader scored his 13th podium finish of the season, he was still frustrated as issues on pit road cost him a chance at a win at the Glen for the second year in a row.

“Every year we come here, we have a fast car and fail to execute, whether that's just called bad luck or whatever,” said Busch after the race. “Last year, we had a lug nut get stuck in the caliper, this year we had fueling problems.  

“It never ceases to amaze me. Nothing surprises me anymore.”

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's Flavor Vote Winner

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's Flavor Vote Winner

Photo by: Logan Whitton / NKP / LAT Images

“He (Elliott) passed me there in the midpoint of the race,” said Busch. “He had me under pressure – had me loose and I had a couple bad exits, so gave way to him – let him have it and tried to hang with him and he drove away from me.

“Then on the next restart, we got in front of him and drove away from him, so I think we were pretty equally matched.”

Busch still could not hide his frustrations after falling short in a race where he clearly had a car capable of earning a milestone 50th Cup victory.

“It’s kind of frustrating when you know you come here every year with a vengeance to go out here and win this race and you’re the fastest car and you’re arguably the fastest car or arguably the fastest guy and not able to perform or execute I should say,” said Busch. “The performance was awesome.” 

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's Flavor Vote Winner

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&M's Flavor Vote Winner

Photo by: Lesley Ann Miller / LAT Images

“It was a heck of a lot harder than it should have been. But that was the predicament we were put in, and we had to go work. I certainly gave Joe his money's worth today, maybe even a couple more races,” Busch said.

“You know, overall just - we had a fast race car. I can't say enough about our guys, our shop, everybody at TRD engines, everything that gave us that opportunity. We just failed to capitalize, so it's a disappointing day, no question.”

While Busch didn’t get to celebrate, he was happy to see Elliott earn his maiden win after 99 races at the Cup level.

“(I) can’t say enough about Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team,” Busch said. “They had a great race car. I told everybody pre-race, told everybody yesterday in the media center to look out for the 9 and I was right. I wish that we could have raced with him a little bit there. Obviously, congratulations for his first win. That’s pretty cool.”

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