Busch's playoff hopes dealt another blow with Iowa DNF

Kyle Busch fell further behind a NASCAR Cup Series playoff spot after his second DNF in three weeks Sunday night at Iowa Speedway.

The night went sour when Busch fell off the pace on lap 270. He had been battling in the top 10 before telling his Richard Childress Racing team something had broken. The repairs on pit road didn’t help, and the team took his Chevrolet to the garage for further work.

But Busch reported he had lost powering steering upon returning to the track. After 272 laps, Busch’s night was over and he finished 35th.

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“I don’t know what happened, but Next Gen parts and pieces broke,” Busch said. “Something in the left rear suspension; I don’t know if it was the toe link or what it was, but it changed the skew of the back of the car. So, we came in and fixed it, rolled back out, blew the power steering belt off. Just broke the belt.

“Frustrating, for sure. We were having a pretty decent day, I thought we had a top 10 run going, and we had an opportunity there to score some points but not to be."

With nine races remaining in the regular season, Busch remains on the outside looking in. He is now 31 points below the NASCAR Cup Series playoff grid cutline.

Busch entered Iowa Speedway eight points below the cutline. A costly last lap at Sonoma Raceway in which he ran out of fuel and was also spun by Ross Chastain didn’t help his cause.

In three of the last five races, Busch has finished 27th or worse. He remains winless after having three victories with the No. 8 team at this point one year ago.

Busch has never missed the postseason in the elimination era.