Getty Joey Logano and Kyle Busch race.
Joey Logano and Kyle Busch have had a running feud for years. The pair added another chapter last year in the 2023 Clash at the Coliseum when the Richard Childress Racing driver didn’t like how the Team Penske driver raced him and offered some choice words for his counterpart during the post-race interview.
Fast forward to this season and just days after the 2024 version of the Clash, and there appears to be a dramatic reduction in the tension between the sport’s only active multi-time Cup Series champions. Logano revealed as much during a February 6 appearance on The Morning Drive show on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Are longtime rivals @joeylogano and @kylebusch now friends? The @Team_Penske driver surprised some fans with interesting comments on his relationship with the @RCRracing driver during an appearance on @SiriusXMNASCAR.
After admitting early in the interview to being part of a group text with Busch, a listener sent a question to the show via X and asked Logano about the status of their relationship, suggesting it sounded like the two were friends now.
“I don’t know if he considers me his friend yet, OK,” Logano admitted. “I did tell him though, if he ever broke down on the way home or something, I could be his first call and I’ll get up and come pick his butt up. I don’t know if he’ll do that for me yet or not, but I’d do that for him.”
Joey Logano Blasted by Kyle Busch After 2023 Clash
The remarks by Logano about his current relationship with Busch are surprising to many fans, considering their history, including what happened at last year’s Clash when the pilot of the No. 22 got into the rear of the No. 8 car and spun him.
“Logano didn’t get hit by nobody,” Busch told reporters after the race. “He just flat out drove through me so he’s got another one coming. I owe him a few.”
And Busch wasn’t done. He delivered an even harsher critique of the Penske driver later during an interview with Claire B. Lang on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“It’s really unfortunate to be raced by guys that are so two-faced,” he said of Logano. “We were in the TV booth earlier and nice together and when we’re all done with that, he’s like, ‘Hey man, good luck tonight.’ I’m like, ‘OK. Great. Thanks. Yeah. Whatever.’ And then, lo and behold, there you go, he wrecks me. Don’t even talk to me if you’re going to be that kind of an assh*** on the race track.”
Logano Admitted Tensions Were Thawing Last Year
While Busch was understandably frustrated and showed his displeasure after the 2023 season-opening exhibition, the tension-filled relationship with Logano appeared to start thawing later in the year.
🛫 To be a fly on the wall for these long, West coast flights…
Logano, Harvick, Truex, Rowdy, Blaney, Brad K, Willy B & more 😳
🗣️ “I sat next to @KyleBusch, shoulder-to-shoulder for 5 hours on the way to Vegas. How about that?” – @joeylogano
More → t.co/oek7E77mXk
“I sat next to Kyle Busch shoulder-to-shoulder for five hours on the way to Vegas,” Logano admitted during a March 15 interview on SiriusXM NASCAR RAdio. “How about that? Didn’t see that one coming, huh? We talked it out. I think we’re OK. I had my nice face on,” he joked of his two faces. “We were OK.”
Apparently, almost a year later, and the two still remain on good terms, Logano even joking during his most recent radio appearance about how they played cards together on the long six-hour flights to the West Coast.
It’s a relationship status no one could have predicted just a year ago. If the current trend continues, is it too crazy to consider the possibility of them sending each other Christmas cards?