Auto notes: Practice mishap will send Kyle Busch to back for Pure Michigan 400

This was exactly the kind of scenario Kyle Busch needs to avoid.
Busch slid onto the grass after coming through a turn during NASCAR Sprint Cup practice Saturday, damaging his No. 18 Toyota. He returned to the track in a backup car, but he now faces the prospect of having to start from the back today in the 400-mile, 200-lap race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.
“I was just running along, everything was fine and I was actually feeling pretty good about it,” Busch said. “Just started to get a little free up off of (turn) four.”
Busch has won four times this year, but he’s only 30th in points because he missed 11 races after breaking his right leg and left foot in February. He needs to be in the top 30 at the end of the regular season to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and right now he’s six points ahead of 31st-place Cole Whitt.
In other words, he needs to avoid major mistakes during these last four races of the regular season. Busch was sixth in qualifying Friday, but going to the backup car will force him to start from the back in today’s race.
The day wasn’t a total loss for Busch. He overcame a speeding violation in pit row to win the Truck Series race at MIS shortly after wrecking his Cup car.
There was damage to the front of Busch’s car after he went onto the grass. The Joe Gibbs Racing star has said in the past he thinks there’s no reason to have grass near racing surfaces, and he addressed the issue again Saturday – with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
“I think at all these racetracks we need more grass – I think more grass would be beneficial,” Busch said. “I think we should have more grass and it should be taller.”
Xfinity Series
Regan Smith bumped his way past Alex Tagliani in the Carousel a turn from the finish to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Driving for JR Motorsports, Smith raced to his first victory of the year and fifth overall.
Tagliani and defending champion Chris Buescher had the two strongest cars early, but both elected to pit on the eighth lap when the first of a track-record eight cautions flew. The leaders pitted a final time just beyond the midway point on lap 43 during the fifth yellow.
Smith, second a year ago on the 2.258-mile road course, was an equal to Tagliani and Buescher at mid-race. He took over the lead in the pits, just beating Tagliani by a fender. Tagliani caught Smith on Lap 61, but the Canadian road racer couldn’t hold him off on the last lap.