As NASCAR prepares to contest the first Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since the 2020 season, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota were each given a representative for a tire test on Tuesday to help Goodyear hone in on a tire compound for the July 21 race weekend.
Unfortunately, Kyle Busch, the Chevrolet representative, suffered a crash in his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the session. According to photos taken by X.com user @rexton787b, it appears that Busch spun and hit driver’s-side-first into the outside wall in Turn 2 of the legendary 2.5-mile speedway.
Kyle Busch has crashed in nascar testing at Indianapolis #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/vEXeUuErtv
— Rexton Kemp (@rexton787b) June 4, 2024
While the crash wadded up the No. 8 machine, Busch was able to exit the car under his own power and was checked and released from the infield care center at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with no issues.
Goodyear confirmed that Busch’s crash was not the result of a tire failure of any kind.
Denny Hamlin is on hand at the test for Toyota, and Todd Gilliland is there for Ford, and both drivers are scheduled to return for additional testing on Wednesday so long as the weather cooperates.
It’s been a rough season, and particularly a rough week for Busch. Heading into this weekend’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing machine sits 19th on the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Grid, and he is now 20 points outside of the cutline.
Busch was involved in a crash with Kyle Larson near the end of Stage 2 in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway. While Larson was able to salvage a top-10 finish, Busch was credited with his first DNF of the year and finished 35th.
