Without a doubt, the Round of 12 had an explosive start at Texas Motor Speedway. With so much at stake, the nervousness was witnessed on the track. However, what was consistent was the struggle with the Goodyear tires, as has been commonly noticed in this campaign. One of the victims of this failure was none other than Richard Childress’ grandson, Austin Dillon.

It’s safe to say that Richard Childress Racing hasn’t had the kind of playoffs they expected. With Kyle Busch struggling in the Round of 16, things haven’t gone his way. Unfortunately, it only worsened after what happened in Texas on Sunday.

Richard Childress’ grandson has a nightmare of a race at the Texas Motor Speedway

After Bubba Wallace won the pole position in the qualifying race on Saturday, he started the race brightly in Texas. However, it was his 23XI Racing teammate, Tyler Reddick, who won Stage 1. Having said that, a number of unfortunate events rocked the first stage of the 267-lap race.

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season hasn’t been a productive one for Austin Dillon. Despite having an experienced figure like Kyle Busch alongside him, Dillon has struggled more than expected. In fact, with 8 DNFs to his name, no other driver has failed to complete a race more than him in this campaign.

Unfortunately for him, a similar fate met him in Texas on Sunday. In Stage 1, Dillon lost a wheel and hit the outside wall hard in Turn 3. Unexpectedly, the entire wheel failed and fell apart. Naturally, this ended the RCR driver’s race, adding one more DNF to his surprising record this year.

However, Dillon wasn’t the only driver who faced issues with his wheels. Todd Gilliland also saw his tire come off in Stage 1. The wheel came off and ran towards the backstretch wall, ending Gilliland’s race with the suspension of two pit crew members.

Safe to say, the Texas race saw plenty of cautions as compared to what has been the case in the playoffs so far.

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In fact, alongside Dillon, even his teammate Kyle Busch had a race to forget on Sunday.

Kyle Busch meets an unexpected fate in Texas as his poor run continues

Coming into the 2023 playoffs, many expected Kyle Busch to bring his A-game considering his experience. With only one top-10 finish in the playoffs so far, Rowdy certainly hasn’t looked at his best. While he was expected to turn it around in Texas, it only got worse for the Richard Childress Racing driver.

Just moments after sensing something wrong with his car, he went around in Turns 1 and 2 and hit the outside wall. This not only brought out a caution but also saw him drive the car in reverse back to the pit road. A similar car was seen at Charlotte, but this time the car was severely damaged.

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Unfortunately, the #8 driver had to witness an early exit from the race. Now, it has been almost over six weeks that Busch has struggled to have an impact on the track. Does this indicate a worrying sign for Richard Childress or will Rowdy manage to turn it around? Let us know in the comments below.