Jeff Burton Explains the Advantage Kyle Busch Holds Heading into the Playoffs Race at Las Vegas

At the Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch came agonizingly close to a maiden win in 2020. Sadly, Joey Logano managed to get on his bad side and that allowed Kevin Harvick past for the win.

Speaking in the Geico Restart Zone show, Jeff Burton analyzed the race. He believes that Busch was the best of the drivers, despite his second place.

According to Burton, mastering the restart is one of the most important things in NASCAR. He observed that Kyle Busch provided the best examples at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

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How did Kyle Busch perform, according to Burton?

The first highlight was on Lap 136, where Busch got on the banking for a better launch. So by the time the #18 car reached Turn 1, he had already placed a small buffer to the rest of the pack.

Burton said, “That’s great driving and smart driving by a champion. A guy that we know is so good on restarts. It’s not just about mashing the throttle as hard as you can. It’s about using this [brain] up here.”

He then spoke about Lap 241, where he had Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick breathing down his neck. Despite that, Busch was able to build another gap to the two on the restart. It was all the more incredible, considering that the Bristol Motor Speedway is a relatively short track.

So, while 2nd, 3rd, and 4th were engaged in a massive dogfight, Busch was cruising comfortably in the lead. Jeff Burton also noticed that when drivers picked their lines, the outside line provided a lot of momentum.

However, a large majority of the drivers stuck to the inside line at the bottom of the racetrack. Truthfully, that was not exactly a bad strategy, since they had a chance to pick 2-3 free places. Similarly, if an opening came up between cars, they could easily slot in and take it.

Finally, on Lap 260, Harvick and Logano wised up to Busch’s tactics at the restart. So they were able to stick to him like glue, and Harvick was able to attack.

Having said all that, Burton is confident that the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Las Vegas will be just as entertaining, if not more.