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CUP: Busch Reaches Out To Earnhardt
Written by:
Tom Jensen
05/05/2008 - 03:31 PM
Charlotte, N.C.
Kyle Busch speaks with the media during NASCAR Sprint Cup testing at Lowes Motor Speedway. (Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos
NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Kyle Busch said it’s business as usual Monday, less than 48 hours after he and Dale Earnhardt Jr. collided near the end of the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway, sending Earnhardt backwards into the wall.
Busch went on to finish second in the race behind winner Clint Bowyer and in the process reclaimed the series points lead over Bowyer’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing, Jeff Burton.
While Busch said he understood that Earnhardt’s passionately loyal and victory starved fan base was upset afterwards, the incident was caused simply by good, hard racing.
“I think as far as (Dale) Earnhardt and myself, we race each other at the top level of NASCAR racing and we know that it was a racing incident and racing hard - both of us - and not really giving each other much room,” Busch said Monday morning at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where he is taking part in a two-day open Sprint Cup test. “That’s a product of Richmond, that’s a product of the COT (Car of Tomorrow) and the hard racing it provides for us.”
As far as fan reaction at Richmond, Busch said it wasn’t too bad – no death threats or angry messages from Earnhardt fans. “Going from the motorhome to the helipad (at RIR), there were just a couple fans yelling derogatory comments and things like that,” said Busch. “It’s nothing new to me anyway. I’m used to it. I pretty much told them, ‘Grow-up, that’s racing.’ We’re racing hard and I feel like there’s a lot more worst cases in this world than someone getting spun out in a race.”
Busch said he had put in a call to Earnhardt to make sure there were no lingering hard feelings from the incident. “I hope we can talk about it and put it behind us,” said Busch. “I’ve reached out to Junior. I’ve called him earlier this morning and got his voice mail. I don’t know what time he got here to get on track, but hopefully we’ll either see each other in the garage or he’ll get back to me later. Maybe even tonight. It’s Cinco de Mayo, maybe we’ll go party it up a little bit —we’ll see.”
And Busch said he would be receptive to what Earnhardt had to say. “Basically, we would just talk it over a little and see what his feelings are and what his outlook on the whole deal is,” Busch said. “ … He’s grown up knowing one of the best in the sport and so I’m sure he has a lot of knowledge that he can still relay to me — so I would like to listen.”
Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. The
SPEED will televise the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV and the NASCAR Sprint Showdown live on May 17, as well as provide more than 90 hours of support programming prior to the event. Stay tuned to SPEEDtv.com for frequent updates on the history of the event and all the details about this year’s action.
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