Kyle Busch lost his slipstream driver on the final lap at Daytona on Saturday night and had no other card to play except ruining Harrison Burton.

Busch led the field at the white flag, but lost momentum from Christopher Bell in Turns 1 and 2 – a charge that gave the Richard Childress Racing driver several car lengths ahead. But without momentum, Busch was caught in the clutches of the field from Turn 2 onwards as Harrison Burton and Parker Retzlaff tried to get to the front of the field from the outside. Burton was forced off the No. 8 in Turn 3, blocking Busch’s final attempt on the way to the finish line.

“Unfortunately, something happened in the second corner,” said Busch. “Or he skidded and didn’t hit my bumper. Then he was under the yellow line and I don’t know what happened. The lower lane was completely destroyed and the outer lane was simply rolled over.”

“When we got to Turn 4, there just wasn’t enough energy because there were enough cars behind me. I was relying on my own slipstream to try and pass, and it was going so slowly that Ray Charles was able to block it. There was nothing I could do except destroy him.”

A crash with two laps to go in regulation gave Busch the lead in the Coke Zero Sugar 400. He was the second car on the inside lane when a collision occurred at the front of the field. Austin Cindric spun in front of Busch and Josh Berry was taken down from the outside lane.

Busch chose the inside lane for the extension attempt.

“I could have stepped forward and probably taken over, but I don’t know if he would have stayed right behind me,” he said. “I had more confidence there, was a better ally, but it didn’t work out.”

The two-time series champion is still winless this season and has no postseason berth, but on Saturday night it finished in the top five for the second consecutive year and the fourth time this year.

“We did a lot of things right and got very lucky that we avoided a lot of those crashes, which was really cool,” Busch said. “I’m glad I didn’t get ripped up and beat up any more than I already did this year. Good day for the Cheddar team, everyone in that Chevrolet Camaro – they did a great job. Randall and the guys brought a fast car, so it’s a shame I couldn’t do my job, but it is what it is.”