Call it hard racing or call it Bristol. Kyle Busch didn’t get angry he just got even.
As the end approached, at the 250-lapper at the high-banked short oval, Busch tagged Nationwide points leader Brad Keselowski battling for the win.
Then Keselowski pushed back even harder. On lap 219 Busch felt enough is enough and he drove his Toyota hard into to his rival’s Dodge spinning Keselowski around and dropping him out of contention.
“I thought I had him cleared on the back and I moved up in front of him and instead of him doing an Earnhardt crossover move he decided that he would just run into the back of me and put me in the fence. So, that’s Brad Keselowski,” explained Busch after his record-tying 10th win of the year.
Just like Carl Edwards, who had sent Keselowski flying at the Atlanta Sprint Cup race, Busch wasn’t the least bit sorry as he said: “I went down into the next corner and dumped him. He does it to everybody else. I think Brad Keselowski should look himself in the mirror and say `I brought this on myself.’”
Keselowksi, who ended up 14th, said: “Just hard racing man. I was going for it. I was on the outside, he was on the inside, and he got a great run through (Turns) 1 and 2. He did a good job. He got up…almost cleared me and kind of took for granted that I would let him in line and I didn’t. That’s his right...”
Yet he also said: “We got intentionally wrecked. It is what it is. We'll go to work and work on beating his (Kyle's) ass.”
Neither driver was called into the NASCAR hauler for consultation after the race leading observers to find that this was just another example of hard racing.
Jason Leffler finished second in a Braun Racing Toyota. Elliott Sadler, in the Kevin Harvick Chevrolet, was third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the JRM Chevrolet was fourth.
Keselowski still has a 313-point lead over Carl Edwards who finished fifth in a Ford. Busch, who has voluntarily missed four races, is third in the Nationwide standings.
If Busch, who won Wednesday night’s Truck race, wins Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race, he could be the first NASCAR driver to perform a hat-trick of this kind in Bristol.
As the end approached, at the 250-lapper at the high-banked short oval, Busch tagged Nationwide points leader Brad Keselowski battling for the win.
Then Keselowski pushed back even harder. On lap 219 Busch felt enough is enough and he drove his Toyota hard into to his rival’s Dodge spinning Keselowski around and dropping him out of contention.
“I thought I had him cleared on the back and I moved up in front of him and instead of him doing an Earnhardt crossover move he decided that he would just run into the back of me and put me in the fence. So, that’s Brad Keselowski,” explained Busch after his record-tying 10th win of the year.
Just like Carl Edwards, who had sent Keselowski flying at the Atlanta Sprint Cup race, Busch wasn’t the least bit sorry as he said: “I went down into the next corner and dumped him. He does it to everybody else. I think Brad Keselowski should look himself in the mirror and say `I brought this on myself.’”
Keselowksi, who ended up 14th, said: “Just hard racing man. I was going for it. I was on the outside, he was on the inside, and he got a great run through (Turns) 1 and 2. He did a good job. He got up…almost cleared me and kind of took for granted that I would let him in line and I didn’t. That’s his right...”
Yet he also said: “We got intentionally wrecked. It is what it is. We'll go to work and work on beating his (Kyle's) ass.”
Neither driver was called into the NASCAR hauler for consultation after the race leading observers to find that this was just another example of hard racing.
Jason Leffler finished second in a Braun Racing Toyota. Elliott Sadler, in the Kevin Harvick Chevrolet, was third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the JRM Chevrolet was fourth.
Keselowski still has a 313-point lead over Carl Edwards who finished fifth in a Ford. Busch, who has voluntarily missed four races, is third in the Nationwide standings.
If Busch, who won Wednesday night’s Truck race, wins Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race, he could be the first NASCAR driver to perform a hat-trick of this kind in Bristol.