Kyle Busch just misses win in Martinsville 500

Kyle Busch recovered from an early-race spin to finish an impressive second in the TUMS Fast Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), lined up second outside of Jimmie Johnson for the final restart with five laps remaining but couldn’t quite make the pass. Busch finished just .479 of a second out of first place.

“I can’t say enough about the effort of the guys on the M&M’s Halloween Camry,” said Busch, who scored his best career finish at Martinsville and has six top-five finishes in 15 starts.

“So close, yet so far away it seems like here at Martinsville time and time again. Jimmie did a good job. He’s a five-time champion for a reason. I was getting into (turn) one, and got to his rear bumper.

I didn’t want to move him out of the way. He slowed the corner down, protected the bottom.

When I went back to the gas, I spun my tires and got loose, he squirted away from me. No chance of getting back to him in (turns) three and four.”

Busch started third and was in the top-10 for much of the early part of the event until lap 150 when he cut a right-rear tire and spun in turn three.

His car didn’t make contact with the SAFER Barrier or another car, and Busch brought the No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry to pit road for inspection by crew chief Dave Rogers and the M&M’s team.

“We struggled early and got behind a little bit,” Busch said. “We spun out there but were able to work on it and get ourselves a pretty decent car.”

While Rogers’ adjustments helped the handling of the M&M’s Toyota, falling temperatures provided more grip for Busch, allowing Busch to become a mainstay in the top five.

“Earlier in the race, it was kind of hot, a little bit slick; the rubber was being put down,” Busch said. “We were sliding on the surface a little bit more than we wanted to.

There late in the going, last 100, 150 laps, it cooled off. The track was faster. You just had to know you could pick up a little bit of speed and hustle the car a little bit more, yet still get yourself in trouble with overheating the brakes and everything else.

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