Kyle Busch succumbs to wall in bid to win on home track

Driver Ryan Blaney (12) drives ahead of Kyle Busch (8) throughout the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphotoNASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch, center, places on his sunglasses prior to the start of the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphotoChauffeur Kyle Busch is presented before the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphotoMotorist Ryan Blaney (12) drives ahead of Kyle Busch (8) throughout the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto
Kyle Busch's bid to win his 2nd straight race came up short after an eventful day at his house track.

After winning last weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, the Las Vegan completed 14th in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after starting 5th.

Busch hit the wall off Turn 2 on Lap 32 but recuperated to complete ninth in Stage 1. He struck the wall once again late in Stage 2 and was up to 13th.

On a rest stop during the Stage 2 care break, Busch lost several areas as he had a hard time to navigate Tyler Reddick, who was in the pit stall ahead of him.

Busch found himself in the leading 10 after the final cycle of green flag pit stops, however gradually fell back to 11th with 10 laps to go. After pitting for 2 tires following a care with 4 laps to go, Busch restarted in 14th with 2 laps to go but could not comprise any ground.

Busch won Friday's Truck Series race and finished fourth in Saturday's Xfinity Series race.

Noah Gragson, the other Las Vegas motorist in the field, ended up two laps down in 30th. He began 25th and could never ever recover after three pit road speeding charges.

During his first pit stop on lap 37, Gragson sped down pit road. He sped again while serving his charge and needed to serve another pass-through charge.

Gragson devoted another speeding charge on a cycle of green flag rest stop late in the last.

While Busch and Gragson struggled, their Chevrolet teammates continued the producer's early season success. Three motorists from 3 Chevrolet teams have actually won the very first 3 races - - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. caught the Daytona 500, Busch prevailed recently and William Byron won Sunday.

Five Chevrolet motorists completed in the top 10 - - led by three Hendrick Motorsports racers who completed 1-2-3 and combined to lead 241 of 271 laps.

" It's excellent to see when you're on this side of it," said Alex Bowman, who finished third. "Just pleased with all the offseason work from everybody at Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports."

Other chauffeurs have taken notice of the producer's early success.

"( Chevrolet) dominated the whole race," said Bubba Wallace, who completed fourth in a Toyota. "We need to have a great debrief to find out what we require to be much better."

The Cup Series races next week at Phoenix, a one-mile track. The first 3 races have been at tracks 1½ ½ miles or longer.

Kyle Larson, who ended up second, stated he's eagerly anticipating seeing if the Chevrolet's speed at larger tracks translates to the track that hosts the NASCAR Championship race.

" It's appealing, it's fun when you have vehicles that quickly," Larson said. "But I am thrilled to get to a brief track next week and see where we stack up there."

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on Twitter.