Kyle Busch Getty NASCAR Cup Series
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At age 37, Kyle Busch is a first ballot NASCAR Hall of Famer no matter what happens next. The two-time Cup Series champion could have simply walked away when Joe Gibbs Racing kicked him to the curb at the end of last year.

Instead, it took just two races for Busch to find himself back in Victory Lane, leading 27 laps and cruising to a 3-second victory at Auto Club Speedway's Pala Casino 400.

Did Busch think he'd raise the curtain on a second act that fast with his new opportunity?

"Truthfully, no," Busch said. "I felt like there was going to be a little bit of a learning experience, a little bit of a growth pattern."

Turns out you don't need time to build chemistry when both sides feel like they're raring and ready to go. It's not just Busch who has something to prove; it's his new Richard Childress No. 8 team, part of a legacy organization that's now gone 28 years since their last championship with Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Busch's new crew chief, Randall Burnett, Childress and company thought they had something going last season with rising star Tyler Reddick. He won three times, starting with a prestigious July 4th event at Road America. But little did the team know, as Reddick smiled for the camera, he was already planning an exit strategy, signing with 23XI Racing in a move he felt was the better long-term play.

It was a decision that gutted an organization feeling like they were finally championship-caliber once again. Across the garage, Busch's life was shattered, too, as potential sponsorships fell through to replace longtime backer M&M's. It was the opening Toyota needed to side-eye and eventually sign with a younger, cheaper replacement: Joe Gibbs' 20-year-old grandson Ty.

Both Childress and Busch felt jilted at the altar, aggressive personalities feeling disrespected. Their shared drive to climb back to the mountaintop is a top-down push that's attracted a supporting cast with similar values.

"They're obviously hard workers," Busch said Sunday of his crew. "And they really dig in, but they have a great ethic about them that just sort of fits."

It's a never-give-up attitude that worked perfectly when an early speeding penalty sent Busch to the rear. By the end of stage one, he'd charged all the way back to 11th, showcasing speed that only got better as the day went on.

Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain was out front, sweeping the first two stages for the first time in his Cup career. But during the final stage, he could do nothing but watch as Busch blew by in his No. 8 and sped away.

"He got faster," Chastain joked after the race; there was nothing he could do with Hall of Fame talent passing through. Even the runner-up, Chase Elliott, simply deferred to Busch.

"Congratulations to Kyle," Elliott said. "For him to leave and then to go get the job done like that is pretty cool."

Early indications are the fans are siding with Busch's second act, too. There were notably more cheers than boos as NASCAR's typical villain basked in the glory of rising again, breaking yet another series record with a 19th consecutive season earning at least one win.

"Rowdy Nation is growing," Busch beamed. "Loud and proud. Watch out, we're going to take over."

Traffic Report 🚦

Green: Trackhouse Racing. Chastain and Daniel Suarez made a statement by placing both Trackhouse cars inside the top 5, with Chastain leading 91 laps -- the second-highest total of his young career. Coming on the heels of contract extensions for each driver, cementing the foundation of this organization, it's clear Trackhouse is primed and ready to contend for the title all over again.

Yellow: Martin Truex, Jr. Truex suffered the first two-lap penalty under new NASCAR rules for 2023 once a loose wheel came barreling off his car and down the backstretch.

It ruined a potential top-5 run but give Truex and crew chief James Small some credit for staying patient. NASCAR's free pass rule eventually gave them both laps back and the car had enough speed to charge back to 11th.

Red: 23XI Racing. It's 4 starts, 4 DNFs for this Toyota group as both Reddick and Bubba Wallace have suffered through a mix of wrecks and mechanical gremlins. As Wallace joked with his crew as his engine was melting Sunday, "I don't know what kind of luck y'all brought us, but damn. Good car, though. Keep bringing it."

Speeding Ticket: Auto Club Speedway's demise. The talk of the weekend was NASCAR's final race on the current Auto Club 2-mile configuration. Some of the speedway's land was sold to a developer for $544 million as the series announced this month ACS will not host an event in 2024, opting for a long-term renovation to turn this place into a short track.

The idea itself is sound as NASCAR has been without a fourth short track on the schedule since dropping North Wilkesboro Speedway back in 1996. But the current 2-mile oval, with its aged pavement and multiple grooves, has become a favorite of fans and drivers alike over the past decade. The lucrative southern California market has also been rejuvenated, creating fresh interest through two exhibition races at the L.A. Coliseum.

So, why pull the plug now? Texas Motor Speedway comes to mind as a place where an intermediate-to-short track conversion could better serve the sport. Unfortunately, rival Speedway Motorsports, Inc. owns that facility, limiting NASCAR's power in forcing changes.

They don't have that problem with ACS, and after 25 years of up-and-down ticket sales, seems like half-a-billion was tough to turn down, even with NASCAR losing money on the deal (the original sale price from Roger Penske? $600 million in cash). It just didn't have to work out that way.

Oops! 🛑

Honorable mention here goes to a 10-car wreck at Auto Club Speedway on lap 87, the biggest in the track's history caused by a jam-up during a green-flag restart.

But the craziest moment of the weekend actually occurred during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race Sunday night. Check out this save by Sheldon Creed after some contact on the backstretch from Josh Berry.

How Creed kept that car off the wall is a minor miracle. Believe it or not, he fought all the way back to lead the race before old tires at the end along with more late-race contact cost him a chance at victory (23rd).

"I thought I was going to hit the wall head on," Creed said. "And I ended up getting it turned the other way… I was lucky to not smoke the wall. But I actually thought our car got better with a little bit of the aero damage."