Kyle Busch Heartbroken Following Engine Failure

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Kyle Busch, tailed by ESPN pit reporter Jamie Little, leaves his No. 18 Toyota following a catastrophic engine failure that sent his car to the garage. If you were watching, you’ll know that the car started billowing smoke out the exhaust at around lap 140, before it settled down to puffing smoke in bursts in time with the RPM. It hung on that way for several laps, but finally expired and was pushed into the garage. There, the team drained the oil and started tearing the motor down. That splatter of oil on the underside of the hood doesn’t look like a good sign, and there was more down the right-hand fender—but at the time, the crew was talking burned or bent valves and thinking maybe they could get the car back out on the track to avoid a DNF. Even if they do, however, the buzz is that this incident is going to be catastrophic for the former points-leader’s championship standings: Kyle will be lucky if he can hang onto the bottom rung of the Chase ladder. But Busch isn’t the only Chase Toyota having drivetrain problems today—Denny Hamlin had to go into the garage to swap out his rear end and axles after having burned them up, and is back out on the track, 37 laps down. See some shots of the No. 18 in the garage.