The box score shows Kyle Busch started sixth and finished third in Sunday’s Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. However, it wasn’t as easy as it looked. In fact, it should show a march from outside the top 20 back up to third.

Busch was spun by Joey Logano on Lap 86. 64 laps later, he crossed the finish line third. How?

“I don’t know. I mean, I felt like in the first 50 laps of the race we had probably a third-place car, and then we kind of tapered off after the long run there a little bit in the first half and we worked on the car,” Busch said on how he got from the back to the front.

“We made it better in the second half but never had an opportunity to show it, getting dumped by the 22. Then we had to turn around and just try to work through traffic. A lot of guys were getting bottled up on the bottom. I’d go high, go around a few of them, then they would start blocking high because they would see that, so I would cross over and get underneath them and move them back up the track in order where I wanted to run where my car was best.

“So, yeah, some of the guys in front of me, some cautions. Obviously, there were some more there towards the end, guys spinning. A lot of guys, more contact as the end of the race happened. Not just one would wash out. Like two or three would get washed out, so you could pick off a couple at a time.”

Busch did note that he and Logano, who’ve had a past history with one another, may have some future fireworks coming soon as he wasn’t too pleased with Logano’s move on him.

“Logano didn’t get hit by nobody. He just flat-out drove through me, so he’s got another one coming. I owe him a few,” he said.

Busch also spoke to the fact that he liked having a car owner on the radio again. He said that when he was with Hendrick Motorsports, Rick would get on a time here or there to talk, but when he was with JGR, Gibbs never would say anything. Tonight, Childress was very vocal on Busch’s radio including being fired up when Logano spun him.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s good. It’s cool,” said Busch. “You know, Rick would get on the radio just a little tiny bit when I was at Hendrick, and then Joe, he never got on the radio. I think they disconnected his button. A long time ago they did that.

“But yeah, Richard, I know he’s prone to key up a little bit here now and again. That was fine. He come on the radio and he goes, he just flat out drove through you, and I’m like, well, what do you want me to do about it?

“Trust me, I started behind him a couple times on restarts and never really got a great chance. I probably could have, but it was more important to go forward than retaliate. I don’t think there’s a lot of others that thought that way. Look at where they finished.”

A year ago, Busch started on the pole and finished runner-up. While he was one spot further back this time around, he feels like his car was better overall. As far as why he’s been so good in the first two years of this event, Busch said it’s more about experience.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t necessarily know what it is, but sometimes drivers will take to places,” Busch said. “But this place here being a short track, me growing up short track racing with some of the late models and stuff that I have done, I’ve been to a lot of places like this. Been Legends cars as well too over the years.

“But I’m sure many of those guys out there have, as well, whether it’s been dirt, whether it’s been pavement. I don’t know, yeah. Having good stuff obviously helps. Last year being in the JGR stuff we were really fast. Our teammates were terrible this year; now our teammates are good, or the JGR cars were good and we got beat by one of them, but Austin and I worked hard together today on, A, working together, but, B, all the information to put ourselves in the best possible spot.

“Good collaboration between the RCR bunch.”