Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images

You couldn’t call Sunday a bad day for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch.

After all, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota led 62 laps in Sunday’s Auto Club 400, second only to race winner Martin Truex Jr. And though Busch finished third behind Truex and Kyle Larson, he held second place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings, nine points behind Truex, who took over the lead.

The problem was that Busch expected better after a strong showing in Saturday’s practice. But clearly, his Toyota team has some catching up to do relative to Truex’s squad at Furniture Row.

Where was Busch’s car losing time to Truex’s?

“Everywhere,” Busch said succinctly. “Just thought we were closer than that, but obviously not. We were right on top of the 78 (Truex) Saturday. The first run, I thought we were really good and showed some strength, but from there on out showed no strength.”

Busch took the checkered flag more than 12 seconds behind Truex.