Kyle Busch's strong bid to end a nearly two-year Cup Series skid ended with a fifth-place run in Sunday's race at Circuit of The Americas.

Kyle Busch finished fifth at COTA, frustrated by a late caution that affected tire strategy and cost him a higher position.

It’s kind of a micro story to the much larger macro of the still young NASCAR season but Kyle Busch versus the Cup Series rule book is a recurring theme thus far. First, there was his elimination in the Daytona 500 when he crashed but received repairs in the hopes making minimum speed and clearing the Damaged Vehicle Policy.

Kyle Busch talks about the contact with Christopher Bell that changed the complexion of the closing laps at COTA.

Kyle Busch did not seem dejected after sacrificing a potential win at the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Busch fell short after leading for a race-high 42 laps, but was in good mood during the post-race interviews.