NASCAR standings 2014: Kyle Busch escapes Kansas, records best-ever finish

When does a third-place finish feel like a win? When you’re Kyle Busch and that result comes on your toughest track and at a very opportune time.

Busch placed third on Sunday at Kansas Speedway. The finish was the best ever for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver at the 1.5-mile oval, a track that is statistically his worst. Busch’s average Kansas finish entering the weekend was 22.7, with a best result of seventh.

That’s why he was in a celebratory mood following the Hollywood Casino 400.

“I won today,” Busch said. “I just didn’t get champagne and a trophy.”

In years past, Busch has experienced myriad problems at Kansas, including crashing out in three consecutive races from 2012-13. But Sunday was different.

On an afternoon when many of the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup field encountered problems, Busch was one of the few who experienced a relatively uneventful race. The tire issues that sidelined Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and others never inflicted the No. 18 team, which Busch attributed to being less aggressive with the chassis setup.

Busch implemented a similar strategy earlier in the year at Auto Club Speedway, which, like Kansas, can be abrasive on tires, to win his only race of the season.

“We didn’t have any issues there,” Busch said. “Could just be we know lower air pressure is always faster, but it’s more abusive on the tire, definitely causes a lot more heat, stresses the tire more. Sometimes you take some chances and it bites you. We were smart about all that.”

The only consternation for Busch was when his Toyota engine became overheated and began smoking with about 20 laps to go. Considering motor failures and a lack of horsepower have been a continued dilemma for JGR and Toyota, Busch was understandably anxious.

“Fortunately the race wasn’t too much longer, we made it,” Busch said.

Because of the strong finish accompanied by the assorted troubles to others in the Chase, Busch finds himself in good position to advance out of Round 2. (Kansas was the first of three races in the Contender Round, which will see four drivers eliminated Oct. 19 at Talladega Superspeedway.)

Busch is second overall in the standings, just six points behind leader Joey Logano, entering next week’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“We just need to carry on and continue to run strong in these remaining races and have another good, solid run next week at Charlotte,” Busch said. “Then, we can go into Talladega with a little bit of a cushion on our side.”