By Jared Turner

Kyle Busch began the playoffs on a sour note by finishing 15^th in a race in which he started from the pole and led a race-high 85 laps. Busch’s day at Chicagoland took a turn for the worse when, after winning the first stage, he was forced to make an unscheduled green-flag pit stop to tighten some loose lug nuts. Matters took an even direr turn for the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champ when he was issued a pass-through penalty for his pit crew coming over the pit wall too soon. Between the lug nut issue and the penalty, Busch lost two laps. He never fully recovered. The good news for Busch is that he’s ranked fifth out of the 16 playoff drivers and still remains in great position to reach the next round. “Really all we can do is move on and put it behind us,” he said.