After months of inconsistencies and disappointing finishes, Kyle Busch finally found himself in a strong spot at Texas earlier, but seemingly, he threw that away after involving himself in an end-of-the-race collision. And all of this was for retaliation. Understandably, this angered many, but the bigger question still hangs: should Busch be punished?

Insiders analyze Kyle Busch’s situation

“You get involved in this tit-for-tat fighting over 12th, and you end up finishing 20th,” Jordan Bianchi said, and seemingly, he wasn’t very happy with the decision Busch made.

This was one of the only times this season Busch was battling for a finish within the top 10. On the final lap, he and John Hunter Nemechek made some contact. And then it didn’t take the ‘Rowdy’ long to hit back at Nemechek, bumping into him, which sent him into the wall, spinning him around.

“There’s a lot of blame on the season on where this team is at right now, but some of it falls on Kyle’s shoulders,” Bianchi added.

Many claimed that the move was unnecessary. There was the possibility of the #8 team, or at least Busch, being penalized later. However, apart from an investigation into the second bump (which sent Nemechek into the wall), there has been no update from NASCAR. Moreover, insider Jeff Gluck had quite a unique perspective on the entire situation, letting Busch go easy.

“I personally don’t think that it should be a penalty,” he said. “Door-slamming somebody after you feel like you just got wronged is part of it. That’s part of this Cup Series racing, and that’s the kind of stuff that self-polices on the track. I would hate to see NASCAR step in and discourage that at this point.”

 

There seemed to be no doubt that the move from Busch was deliberate. He was aggressive and slowed down, losing positions, only to bump Nemechek. However, he did not admit pulling that move off deliberately, so there could be a chance that NASCAR does not penalize him because of lack of evidence. This happened earlier this year as well, when he got away from wrecking Riley Herbst at Bristol. Although a penalty looks inevitable for Kyle Busch after the incident, there has been no such indication from the officials. Moreover, with Gluck supporting him, it seems hard if the authorities will think otherwise.

But the main issue lay with what was at stake. This was a fabulous weekend for the #8 team. They were seemingly on their way to a second consecutive top 10 finish after having Busch experience one of the worst starts to his Cup seasons. Although towards the end, he was battling for the 12th position, this move still didn’t make sense.

Richard Childress had put a lot into this weekend, with a car that favored Busch, a new crew chief, and a car that was much more competitive than it had been on the past weekends. But at the end of the day, Kyle Busch ended up losing eight positions on the final lap, all because he wanted to have a little hit back on a much younger driver.

So far, there hasn’t been any word from NASCAR on the possibility of some retribution against Busch and his unphased moves on the track. And with the support he seems to be getting from the insiders, it seems like he would once again not have to answer anyone. But this is far from being the first time an incident like this has happened this season.

Denny Hamlin showers praise for Kneeland

“God bless Derek Kneeland, his spotter. I thought he just doing a great job of like trying to just put some put some chill in his life,” Denny Hamlin said on the Actions Detrimental podcast. This was finally one of the races where Busch could prove his competitiveness. He has struggled with pace throughout the season so far, and with some personnel changes, mainly his crew chief, this was turning out to be a positive day. While the ‘Rowdy’ isn’t always easy to deal with, Kneeland was still trying to keep him calm.

Even when Busch faced some trouble with Carson Hocevar early in the race, Kneeland had been commanding: “We haven’t run in the top 10 in like three years. We’re having a great day here today. Keep it together. I know it’s not perfect. Just keep your s– together; we’re having a good day.” Kyle Busch, however, took it with a grain of salt, “OK, psych major. That’s not at all what I’m talking about. Let’s keep it in one piece; that could have ruined our day. OK? It’s other people. I’m fine. Put a bag of ice in your c—, let’s go.”

It was Hocevar who attempted a risky move against the #8, which could have ended the race for the crew.

Making up positions throughout the race, Busch had finally found himself battling in 12th place when the now-infamous incident with John Hunter Nemechek took place. It was apparent that no amount of messages or commands from his spotter was going to stop him from hampering his race, and that is exactly what happened. At the end of the day, the crew had to go home with a 20th-placed finish, which could have been a lot better.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR