Getty Kyle Busch (left) and Brad Keselowski (right) both missed the championship four.
The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry is not happy with a fellow NASCAR Cup Series champion. Kyle Busch had very strong words for Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and said that he should “beat the s***” out of him.
Busch made the comments after the October 31 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway that Alex Bowman won in wild fashion. Keselowski got into the left rear of Busch’s stock car coming out of Turn 4, sending the JGR Toyota into the wall. The driver of the No. 18 straightened out his vehicle and crossed the finish line in second place.
RETWEET TO CONGRATULATE ALEX BOWMAN ON HIS HALLOWEEN WIN AT MARTINSVILLE! 🎃🏁
“He drills my a** coming out of [Turn] 4 for no reason,” Busch told media members after the race, as captured by NBC Sports reporter Dustin Long. “Where was he going? What was he going to do? Spin me out? He was trying to do a [Kevin] Harvick is what he was trying to do. For what? For second place? He wasn’t going to transfer through with that.
“It’s freaking r*******. So stupid. I should beat the s*** out of him right now is what I should do. But that doesn’t do me any good either.” Busch added that he’s already paid “enough fines” in his lifetime and that he will probably get another one.
Busch later took to social media and apologized for his use of the R-word. “In one of my post-race interviews I used a word I should never use and I want to apologize for it,” he tweeted on Sunday, October 31.
Harvick Tried To Spin Busch During the 2020 Martinsville Elimination Race
Memorable Moments of the 2020 NASCAR Season.
No. 5: Kevin Harvick won 9 races but was eliminated in the Round of 8. Needing just one more spot to advance at Martinsville, he tried to wreck Kyle Busch for the position and instead wrecked himself.
The incident that Busch referenced during his postgame presser took place during the 2020 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway. Harvick, the winner of nine races, needed to pass Busch in order to lock himself into the championship four by virtue of points.
The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang attempted this maneuver coming out of Turn 4. He hooked the left side of Busch’s No. 18 and tried to spin his fellow driver. However, the gambit backfired. Harvick spun into the wall and damaged the rear of his stock car while Busch kept his own vehicle moving across the finish line.
Instead of locking himself into the championship four, Harvick ended the race 17th and below the cutline. He failed to move on while Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski secured their respective spots by virtue of points. Elliott locked himself in with the win at Martinsville while Joey Logano punched his ticket with a win at Kansas.
Busch Previously Shut Down the Notion That Another Driver Would ‘Pull a Harvick’
The contact near the start-finish line is not the first time that Busch has been involved in an incident at the end of the Martinsville elimination race and not by his own decision. It was only the latest example. Though the two-time Cup Series champion previously shut down the notion that another driver would attempt the same move as Harvick.
Busch spoke to Heavy prior to the Martinsville elimination race in an email interview. He explained that he didn’t expect anyone to spin another driver at the end of the final elimination race of the playoffs.
“I think every situation is different,” Busch told Heavy. “You can’t compare what happened last year to this year because you don’t know how the points are going to go down at the end of these races and who will be racing for what.
“I think in the elimination format you’ve seen guys do some desperate things because that’s what the format creates at times, which creates some excitement for the fans. I think each guy is willing to do something different to get to the next round during the playoffs and also to make it to the Championship 4 and have a shot to win it at Phoenix.”
READ NEXT: Travis Pastrana Recruits 2 Cup Champions for Nitro Rallycross
Comments
Kyle Busch Goes Off After Contact From Brad Keselowski