Kyle Busch got out of his demolished car and went straight toward Victory Lane as he pulled off his gloves.
He didn’t win the race Saturday night, but he had a score to settle with the guy who did. Four officials got in his way, grabbed him and forced him toward the infield care center where he was examined and released.
Minutes before that, Busch tried to make a blocking move to win the Coke Zero 400. As he turned his nose in front of Tony Stewart, Stewart stayed straight. Busch went across Stewart’s hood, up the track and crashed into the outside wall.
The race-ending wreck played out similarly to the race-ending wreck at Talladega Superspeedway in April. The driver in the lead (Carl Edwards) attempted a block in that race, too. The driver behind him (rookie Brad Keselowski) didn’t budge to allow the block. Unlike that April crash, Busch’s car didn’t fly up into the air and hit the catchfence or lead to any fan injuries.
The battle that ensued led to disaster for Busch. After Stewart sent the No. 18 up the track, Busch’s car was hit twice more — once from behind by Kasey Kahne and once from the side by teammate Joey Logano. Orlando Sentinal
As Busch darted left and right to block his position, Stewart clipped the back end of the No. 18 Toyota, setting off a chain reaction behind him as he cruised to the finish.
Busch, who led just one lap and was scored 14th at the finish, declined comment following the race.
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Stewart, however, was clear that dumping a fellow driver — particularly a former teammate who he drafted with for the latter part of the race — was not how he wanted to win despite the approving roar from the fans.
“If we didn’t win the race, we didn’t earn it. But I don’t want any part of winning a race because a guy got wrecked. I don’t think we did anything wrong. He’s protecting his position — which is what he has to do as a driver. He can’t just sit there and let us make a move like that and not try to defend it.”
Stewart appeared almost remorseful following the race. Despite scoring his 35th career win, earning Stewart-Haas Racing its second victory of the season and blowing out his points lead to 180 markers over second-place Jeff Gordon, it was not the way Smoke wanted to win.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, you don’t want a race to be decided like that,” Stewart said. “It’s hard work to get these cars to the racetrack and it’s just a bad situation. It’s not bad because we’re put in a bad situation.” FOXSport.com
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