Bad news early for Kyle Busch: Practice damage forces him to bring out backup car

Kyle Busch's Texas weekend took a hit, literally, when he crashed in Friday's Sprint Cup practice.

Busch limped his car to the garage, where Joe Gibbs Racing team members brought out his backup car.

MORE: 8 drivers to watch at Texas | Track's unique challenges

That's not the start Busch wanted at Texas. Sunday's AAA Texas 500 goes off after 2 p.m. ET, but more importantly Busch faced Friday's 6:45 p.m. ET qualifying in a less familiar car.

Meanwhile, teammates Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth were among early leaders in practice speeds. Like Busch, they are trying to qualify for Nov. 20's Chase championship race at Homestead-Miami. Texas and Nov. 13's race at Phoenix will either send race winners or the top four in points to the title race.

Once he got his car onto the 1.5-mile track, Busch was doing top-10 laps as well. However, he finished the practice 22nd on the speed list.

Here's another look at that @KyleBusch incident. #TheChase https://t.co/EikrZaNZVB

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 4, 2016

In a post-practice media session, Busch was asked about the crash.

"We got into Turn 3 and the car felt good," Busch said. "It loaded really well, but we got back into the throttle and got to the bumps and it bottomed me out a little bit. It got me up the track. From there the whole car just kind of came off the track. I couldn't get it checked up or slowed down in time before it slapped the wall.

"Speeds are really high here at Texas and when you lose that grip, it happens in a hurry and it got away from me. I wish I would have taken it a little easier but I wasn't even trying that hard to be honest so it was a shock that it happened."

Busch won the 2016 spring race at Texas and is fourth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings entering Sunday's race.

🚗 @KyleBusch and crew already at work after an early-practice collision with the wall! #TheChasd pic.twitter.com/jWfEsWjElW

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 4, 2016

Busch's problem likely will leave him steaming. Already a critic of tires used in NASCAR races, Busch was in Turn 4 when his car's right-front tire went down. All he could do was ride it out.

Busch had yet to complete a lap when his car turn its swerve to the right.

Yep, that's a flat tire. (Image via NBCSN, NASCAR.com)

Friday's practice was the only one for Cup drivers before qualifying. Worse, Busch was driving a car built especially for the Texas race.

Practice results for Sprint Cup Chase drivers

NOTE: positions out of 40-car field; one car from pre-race entries withdrew