This year has not gone according to plan for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, and Sunday’s effort at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was no different. Entering the day, Busch was tenth in points following an engine failure at the Chicagoland Speedway. Looking to turn his luck around Busch put the No. 18 Snickers Toyota twentieth on the grid for Sunday’s race.

Fighting the balance of the car throughout the weekend’s practice sessions, Busch hoped once the race got under way he would be able to find the perfect combination of speed and handling to get to the front and score the win. While things started out promising for the kid they call ‘Rowdy’ a blown tire ended any chances of a first Brickyard victory.

From the drop of the green flag Busch went to work picking off cars and working his way to the front. The problems that plagued the No. 18 team in practice seemed to give way to Busch’s competitive spirit as he made his way to 14th as the field began to hit pit road under green. With Busch getting the job done on the track, the Steve Addington-led crew got the job done on pit road. Pitting on Lap 28, Busch was able to gain seven spots thanks to a great job of getting on pit road and a lightening quick stop by his crew.

Now running seventh, Busch looked to maintain his top-10 position and keep adjusting on his tight handling car for the finish.

Just as things were starting to look up for Busch, the No. 18 shot up the race track in Turn 3 and into the outside wall. Busch suffered heavy damage to the right side of the Toyota Camry after a cut Goodyear sent him into the wall and ruined his day.

"It's unfortunate for the Snickers Bar Hunger Toyota Camry.  We were running decent," Busch explained after the disappointing incident.  "We were running there about 14th and had an awesome pit stop and got up to seventh.  We were biding our time running there and I got stuck behind the 71 (David Gilliland) and had to push the right-front a little bit.  Right from that point I just started losing the right-front tire - just getting real tight.  I had been loose the whole run, so I didn't think I had been abusing it at all, but all of the sudden it just started vibrating and then in two laps it just blew out.  I don't know what exactly happened to cause it."

While the cause of the incident may be uncertain, the effect of it is clear as day. Finishing the race in the 38th spot, Busch dropped four positions in the standings to 14th. Now sitting outside of the top-12 for the first time California in February, Busch is 82 points out of twelfth and headed to a track he has more than struggled at in the past.

At the tricky three-corner Pocono Raceway, Busch has only one top-five and two top-10s in nine tries. The driver of the No. 18 finished 22nd there earlier this year and has finished outside the top-20 in his last three attempts. If Busch plans on being a part of this year’s Chase, he will need to overcome his struggles not only at Pocono, but also those that have plagued him as of late in 2009.

In the last eight races, Busch has only one top-10 and his last top-5 finish was his win in Richmond eleven races ago. Since that win, Busch has fallen from fifth in the standings to fourteenth, where he sits entering Pocono this weekend. With things as tight as ever among those chasing that twelfth and final Chase spot, Busch cannot afford to continue this slump.

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