For Kyle Busch, everything is great.
That was the refrain repeated several times at Phoenix Friday afternoon after he and Joey Logano were called to the principal’s office. The purpose was to discuss the events that took place during and after Sunday’s race in Las Vegas, hoping all parties could move forward from the fracas that made national news.
For anyone who spent the past five days out of the loop, Busch made a sudden move in front of Logano on the final lap. Logano then made contact with Busch, which sent the M&M’s Toyota spinning. Afterwards, on pit road, Busch swung at Logano and was promptly swarmed by the No. 22 crew. He emerged with a bloody forehead before both sides were separated by race officials.
After the meeting, each driver emerged from the NASCAR hauler separately. Logano maintained that the contact was not intentional and his Team Penske provided data which reflected that.
“I was able to show him that and it was pretty clear, in my opinion, what happened,” he claimed. “It was an honest mistake, it was hard racing at the end. I hope [Busch] was able to see that and know I was sincere about it.”
Logano’s rival wasn’t quite so forthcoming. Busch’s only answer during a quick, 40-second impromptu presser after the meeting was, “Everything is great. I’m looking forward to a fantastic weekend here in Phoenix.” It was a generic response to a wide variety of questions about the incident and the past few days.
Clearly, whether Busch was accepting of Logano’s explanation or not remained a mystery. The only fact we know for certain is neither side will be fined for the melee under NASCAR’s “Boys, have at it” policy.
NASCAR Executive Vice President Steve O’Donnell emerged from the meeting reiterating just where that line was. Â Fists are fine but anything more in terms of on-track contact will cause a problem for all involved going forward.
“We’re very clear that we’re not going to allow a car to be used as a weapon,” O’Donnell said. “We didn’t see that in this case. We looked at this as good, hard racing. That’s when we will react – if there’s an intentional something that happens on the racetrack, we’ll have to react.”
About the author
Frank Velat has been an avid follower of NASCAR and other motorsports for over 20 years. He brings a blend of passionate fan and objective author to his work. Frank offers unique perspectives that everyone can relate to, remembering the sport's past all the while embracing its future. Follow along with @FrankVelat on Twitter.
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i love how NASCAR plays this garbage up. Kyle cannot and will not see it was a racing incident pure and simple, something that has happened with him and his competitors ALOT. And nobody every made a big deal about Kyle and his racing hard, ask Kasey Kahne..who by rights should have punched Busch along time ago! That God for Richard Clhildress!!! HOLD MY WATCH!!!!!! LOL.
I find it very immature and hugely hypocritical. Logano just got grilled on the pre race interview and damn, the he had to throw himself on a sword because of Kyle’s nasty behavior and explain over and over again what happened and how he was so sorry. But yet crickets and no big deal is made when he(Kyle) races his competitors and something happens. The two faced bs and hypocrisy in NASCAR is really bad. IMO. Many hypocritical, whiny drivers out there…and they all seem to drive Toyota’s. Hmmm….
They don’t like to be raced…or when they do it..it is no biggie and move on to thank their sponsors!
Harvick drives a Ford
Sadly he does Joshy…but you have not been paying attention to who has been whining lately in a the “same group” as a double standard, hypocrisy galore, do as I say don’t do as I do environment etc! The Gibbs Girls and their Toyota Sistas! And when their crew chiefs start showing hypocrisy and whining (which they will inevitably do), I will reserve a table for them …brunch, and put the reso under “The Red Hat Club of Toyota”. I am sure one of your older lady relatives is a member and know what the Red Hat Club is!
Tony Stewart made a big deal about KB’s driving style years ago.
I am concerned if KB was checked for a concussion. After all the blow to his head drew blood. Nobody else is bleeding after hitting the wall, except for Dale Senior and we know how that ended.
NASCAR VP Steve O’Donnell is absolutely correct in his ruling, fists ok, taking out a driver on purpose is attempted murder. Please NASCAR have KB checked for a concussion before the next race. How else can you explain his mordant answers.
He was checked at the infield care center after the race and cleared.