Kyle Busch is among the most experienced active drivers in all of NASCAR. In NASCAR, most skills will come with experience, and experience only. That is the masterclass Busch put on tonight to finish P15 rather than P30+. The masterclass in disguise by Busch showed the world today why finishes will matter in 2026.
Busch found himself in the weaning laps a few rows too many behind the front of the pack. Running around P20, Busch was stuck on the inside line, awaiting any run to happen. Over the course of a couple laps, no run would become of it.
On the outside of Busch, we see Corey Heim and others trying to push and even make it 3-wide, despite being 8-10 rows behind the leaders. Instead of making his own push, Busch pulls back, causing his radio to bear the question, "Did you run out of gas?"
"No... what am I going to rush to the wreck for?" That is the awareness level that many racecar drivers lack. "We're running 30th," Busch goes on to say. While fans can laugh it off, it is a brilliant move from Busch. He knows a wreck is almost definitely going to happen. Sitting outside of the top 20, it is quite likely that Busch would get collected in that wreck. Instead, he saves the car.
Kyle Busch Does Addition by Subtraction

© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
What is the result of this pull-back? Not one, but two wrecks happen on the final lap of the Daytona 500. Busch, back about 1/3 of the way around the 2.5-mile track, moseys along. Over the radio, we hear his spotter confirm the wreck ahead and advise him to avoid it, of course.
As Busch avoided the wreck, his P30 state of things became a P15, completing that final lap in about one minute and six seconds — nearly 20 seconds off of the hot-lap pace.
The New Playoff Format
Busch put on a display of how to manage the new playoff format. Instead of the old "Win and You're In," the average finishing position matters—each finishing position awards 1 point, with points decreasing progressively as the position increases. Instead of risking it for the win, you must find that checkered flag. A P15 is a lot better than a P30 or a DNF.
This equates to a net +15-point gain for Busch, give or take. We cannot ensure what his finishing position would have been without the wrecks, but it would have lingered around 30th. By finishing 15th, Busch scored 22 points instead of roughly 7. This is a bigger difference than finishing 1st versus finishing in the top 5.
Rest assured that Busch was not the first one to use this strategy, especially at a superspeedway. Inching to the end and fighting for every position will matter, and that will benefit many drivers. The most curious case will be Kyle Larson's. As a perennial wrecker, he must keep that No. 5 on the track and reduce his number of DNF's.