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Kyle Busch’s spotter Derek Kneeland laments No. 8 team’s bad luck after DNF at Iowa

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones06/17/24brianjones_93
Kyle Busch (1)
Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

Derek Kneeland, the spotter for Kyle Busch, is sounding off the team’s back luck this season after Busch suffered a DNF at Iowa Speedway. On X (formerly Twitter), Kneeland said Busch and his team can’t catch a break no matter how great things are going.

“It could rain 100 dollar bills and we would get a penny,” Kneeland wrote. “Unreal the luck this year we are having.”

Kneeland followed up with another post stating his belief in himself and Busch. “I’m critical on myself. Always critique after a race. Felt like this was one of my best races…… and still get a DNF,” he wrote. “I wont give up tho! Keeping the faith in my driver and team.”

Busch was having a strong run at Iowa, but mechanical issues led to him having a tough end to his day. “Yeah, I don’t know what happened, but Next Gen parts and pieces broke,” Busch explained. “Something in the left rear suspension, I don’t know if it was a tow link or what it was, but it changed the skew of the back of the car and just undriveable doing that.”

Busch is still looking for his first win of the season. It’s important for him because he has won at least one Cup Series Race each year he’s been racing full-time in NASCAR. Busch has suffered two DNFs in the last three races and is on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff standings.

Is it time to panic for Kyle Busch?

Before the Iowa Cup Series race, Kevin Harvick weighed in on Busch’s season on his Happy Hour podcast. “If one more car wins, it’s Kyle Busch down a couple of spots,” Harvick said. “They just need some consistency to be able to stop bleeding. It’s not all of their doing. Some of it is just bad luck. But they just can’t get out of the middle of all the bad luck.”

Despite the tough 2024 season, Busch had had a legendary career. In 690 Cup Series starts, the 39-year-old has won 63 races and earned 377 top-10 finishes. He won the Cup Series championship in 2015 and 2019, and some of his biggest race wins are the 2008 Southern 500, the 2018 Coca-Cola 600, and the 2017 All-Star Race. In 2023, Busch was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers.