Much of the talk coming out of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race is around the incident involving Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek.
As the field went down the backstretch with two laps remaining in the Würth 400, Busch and Nemechek were racing for 12th. Occupying the outside line, Nemechek’s No. 42 made slight contact with Busch’s No. 8, sending the latter into the wall.
Busch gathered his car back up by the time they entered turn three. Here, in what looked like a retaliation move, Busch door-slammed Nemechek, sending the latter crashing into the outside wall. Busch finished the race 20th, while Nemechek scored a 21st-place finish.
In the wake of the incident, former NASCAR Cup Series crew chief and current NASCAR analyst Steve Letarte did a breakdown of the incident.
Letarte says it’s ‘impossible’ to tell if Busch retaliated
In a recent episode of “NASCAR: Inside The Race,” which streams on YouTube and Spotify, Letarte analyzed the SMT data from both Nemechek and Busch’s cars.
Regarding the incident on the backstretch, Letarte does not believe Nemechek was in the wrong. While he conceded the Legacy Motor Club driver was a few feet off the outside wall, he was doing so in an effort to pass Busch.
“I don’t think John Hunter did anything wrong here. I’m sure the 42 held its line, wanting the 8 to kinda come up, maybe try to stall the 8 and try to get some momentum. The backstretch? That’s a racing incident,” Letarte said.
However, Letarte said the incident on the backstretch is not what everybody wants to talk about. Instead, they want to discuss what happened in turn three.
Based on his steering and brake pressure, Letarte could not definitively say that Busch purposefully crashed Nemechek in the third turn. Looking at the SMT data, Letarte said the No. 8 car does not turn going into the corner, then goes straight left, and finally attempts to steer it.
While everyone will draw their own conclusions, Letarte said it is impossible to tell intent based on the data.
“What’s very hard to tell is was it purposeful. If I look at brake pressure as well, the 8 steps on the brake and then steps on the brake again. Everybody can have an opinion whether it was purposeful or not. I can tell you looking at the driver date itself, it’s impossible for me to tell,” Letarte said.
Nemechek incident adds new layer to frustrating 2026 season for Busch
Sunday’s incident at Texas was another misfortune for Busch in what has been a difficult 2026 season.
After 11 races, the Richard Childress Racing driver sits 26th in the points standings. The two-time Cup Series champion has one top-10 finish and seven finishes of 20th or worse.
In addition, Busch is in a contract year with RCR. He has been with the organization since 2023, winning three races in their first season together. However, the 41-year-old has failed to win a race since.
Sunday’s race was also the first race with Andy Street atop the pit box in 2026. Street replaced JIm Pohlman, who joined RCR at the beginning of the season.
NASCAR: Former Crew Chief Breaks Down Busch, Nemechek Incident