DARLINGTON, S.C. >> Kyle Busch has experienced a maddening, frustrating season so far that’s left the two-time Cup Series champion on the outside of a 12th straight NASCAR playoff appearance.

Busch hopes to put past problems aside at Darlington Raceway, where winning the Southern 500 on Sunday night is his only option to keep his postseason streak alive.

“Every week, it just kind of seems like, ‘OK, what’s next?’” Busch said Saturday. “But that’s something that we can’t change.”

Busch, who has not won in 46 races, nearly clinched his spot at Daytona last week, but lost out on a wild, final lap duel with Harrison Burton. So Busch sits 19th on the playoff grid, 106 points out of the field and knowing his only chance is his first Darlington victory since 2008.

Busch hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2012. Yet, he won’t let his struggles this year steal his focus in the final race of the regular season.

“You can use that as a distraction or a motivation tool,” said Busch, who won the series championship in 2015 and 2019. “We’ll look to make that our motivation.”

That won’t be easy at Darlington, where Busch had a seventh-place finish here in May 2023, his best showing since leaving Joe Gibbs Racing two seasons ago to join car owner Richard Childress.

Busch was 27th in the spring event here and never in contention.

“We don’t come in this weekend holding our heads low and thinking that we’re going to not run well,” Busch said.