As Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch sent Atlanta Motor Speedway’s aged surface out with one more thrilling race to the end on Sunday (July 10), both drivers had to carefully navigate lapped traffic, a factor magnified by the absence of a caution flag in the final stage.
Kurt Busch went on to win, and in the mind of Kyle Busch, the race’s second-place finisher, Ross Chastain provided more help than he should have.
A terse Kyle Busch took issue with Chastain following Sunday’s race, alleging that he held up the driver of the No. 18 Toyota on purpose. Chastain finished a lap down in the 21st position.
“No question, man. He turned right in order to get in front of me,” Kyle Busch said.
Busch not only claimed that Chastain deliberately held him up, but also felt that it cost him a better chance of a win.
“I think it’s a hell of a lot better race, yeah. For two whole laps, I just killed the tires trying to get turned underneath him,” Kyle Busch said. “You just can’t change directions. And when I tried to change direction, he watches his mirror and change direction with me. So you just stomp on the brake and air block. It’s pathetic.”
So did Kurt Busch ask for help from his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate? Absolutely.
“Our car was really good on the bottom and we radio’d to the 42 spotter, give us the bottom,” Kurt Busch said.
Chastain offered no apologies for the way that he handled the closing laps.
“I was aware of what was going on around me. He [Kurt Busch] asked for the bottom and I gave it to him,” Chastain said.
“If the guy that loses gets mad, OK. I’m doing everything I can do to stay in the sport and am driving as hard as I can, and staying on the lead lap is part of that,” he added.
Also on Chastain’s mind? Needing to stay in postion for the free pass in case a caution was to come out late in the race. Chastain is currently 19th in the points standings.
“It’s everything at that point, it doesn’t matter how the car is handling, it’s literally doing everything you can to prolong it,” Chastain said.
From Kurt Busch’s standpoint, there was nothing unethical about how the final laps played out, even if it came at his own sibling’s expense.
“He did stop by victory lane and do the Kyle Busch grump, which I expect,” Kurt Busch said. “What happened on the track was the perfect scenario for a teammate to do the work that he needed to do. If I am running third, Ross is not part of the equation. That was exactly what a teammate needs to do, and Ross did that in a way that gave me a sense of pride on the education and mentorship that I have helped Ross with this year as a perfect give-back.
“Can we do that in playoffs? No. Can you do that in the regular season when one guy has won and one is running hard? Today is a perfect scenario for that to unfold and Kyle will get over it pretty quickly.”
About the author
Brad joined Frontstretch.com in 2020 and contributes to the site's 5 Points To Ponder column and other roles as needed. A graduate of the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communication, he has covered sports in some capacity for more than 20 years with coverage including local high school sports, college athletics and minor league hockey. Brad has received multiple awards for his work from the Georgia Press Association.
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Heck Kyle, that’s what teammates are for. You should be mad at Hamlin. He should have pulled a Bowyer for ya in the closing laps.
If Hamlin would do that echo he would’nt be a dumbass like jaws 2.0 wallace to Bragg about when he done it with the petty team.
It’s “wouldn’t”, dumbass.
I think Kyle needs to see a shrink. ? Oh….
And what’s Larson’s excuse this week? He doesn’t even have his own teammate Bowman to blame like he did last week. LMAO!
I’m sure seeing a shrink was part of Kyle Larson’s rehabilitation last year – to explore the reasons for his racism and arrogance. It may have helped with the former, but not the latter.
It sucks when that happens doesn’t it Kyle? It happens all the time though and I’d bet one of your teammates have helped you win at least once or twice in your career. I’d also bet that at least once you have held someone up, or raced them extremely hard when you had nothing to gain, to help a teammate. Like I said it sucks but that’s one of the benefits of being on a team.
Team orders always suck and always make the racing worse. At least this week, it’s not little Baby Larson complaining about his own teammate.
What’s the difference between a teammate of the driver you’re racing for the win making it hard for you to pass, and just another driver that owes you payback from something that happened previously? Not much.
You could argue that a driver making it difficult to pass regardless of the circumstances is the way it should always be (i.e. Ryan Newman) and that would make the racing better (at least on paper).
If your teammate does it, he at least gets a lecture from somebody in management. And if his position isn’t really secure, he may want to be sure his resume is up to date.
Like Kurt said, Kyle will get over it quickly. At least Kyle still has his 102 little league wins.
LOL. Yeah he’s a legend in is own mind.
Even if Kyle acts like a jerk, he will always be a legend in NASCAR for his Cup wins, Championships and secondarily, for his total wins. He is the best driver of his generation whether you personally approve of him or not.
I guess the point was, Kyle considers himself a legend. That is a title others should bestow upon a person. A person should never be so enamored with themselves that they consider themselves a legend. And more times than not, I kind of get that vibe from Kyle.
Yep, when he races the high school kids.
Ah, the purity of NASCAR. Where there are no team orders or manipulation. LMAO. Today they just came out and admitted the obvious.
Kyle didn’t think anything about wrecking his own teammate to win the xfinity race. Nothing like being a spoiled brat.
Now try to learn the differences between THERE and THEIR and THEY’RE and YOUR and YOU’RE. YOU’RE welcome.
Echo doesn’t know the difference either, but you never call her out!
THEY’RE not the only ones. So THERE!
Kurt Busch’s teammate helped him to win the race on Sunday. Kyle Busch wrecked his teammate on Saturday so Kyle could win the race. Kyle just never will understand the concept of teamwork.
Kyle continues to be CRY BABY when he loses. Time to retire!
OMG……KYLE cries because he expects everyone to just pull over and let him him. It’s racing buddy…..get over it
Kyle’s just p!ssed ’cause he knows he has no friends on the track, including his teammates.