Brad Keselowski Discusses Kurt Busch, Martinsville Fallout

Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Last weekend in Martinsville during the STP 500, things got heated between NASCAR drivers Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch. During a pit stop Keselowski misjudged what Kasey Kahne was doing and as a result accidentally ran into him causing damage to the left front of his No. 2 machine. Immediately after that Keselowski was hit on the right side by Kurt Busch who appeared to have nowhere to go. The damage suffered on the right side resulted in the entire suspension being ripped off of the car which sent Keselowski to the garage for repairs.

In the garage area Keselowski explained during an on-air interview that he felt Busch ran him over. Keselowski would get back onto the track sans his hood and he made it a point to show Busch just how angry he was with him. Although he didn’t wreck him, it was clear that he had some ill will towards the driver of the No. 41 machine.

Earlier this week Keselowski recapped the events of Martinsville and his feelings on it in his weekly blog.

"Pit road speed is about 35 mph there, which is relatively slow. When I hit Kasey, I was probably going 15 or 20 mph. So when Kurt hit me, I thought it was really strange that he had hit me so hard — hard enough to tear the right front suspension off the car.As a race car driver, if there’s an accident, it’s our duty — not just for ourselves but for our fellow competitors out there — to try to diminish it, to lessen the impact as much as possible. Imagine you’re at Talladega. If there’s a wreck at 200 mph in front of you, and you are capable of slowing down to 100 mph, you do it. Self-preservation alone just dictates that, but it’s kind of an unspoken rule between drivers.In my experience, Kurt doesn’t think that way. how Kurt drives when there’s an accident brings up some issues for me. I’ve had some instances with Kurt over the last two or three seasons where the same thing kept happening. Essentially, there would be a wreck in front of us or beside me, and Kurt wouldn’t slow down for it. He’d just drive right through it, and in doing so, he’d put his own team and effort at risk, and he’d put me at severe risk, too.This past Sunday, he took what was going to be a bad situation, and made it much worse. Don’t get me wrong: It’s racing. Accidents happen. Pit road accidents happen. But the replay confirmed what I thought. There was a wreck. Kurt didn’t slow down. I was mad because when he ran into me, he made no effort to minimize the damage. I’m not cool with that."

In all fairness to Busch as I fan, I myself wasn’t quite sure why Keselowski was so angry during the race. Watching the replay it seemed like Busch was trying to get around the wreck and had nowhere to go. However, when Keselowski explains the situation like he does above, it makes a whole heck of  a lot more sense.

As the Sprint Cup circuit heads to Texas this weekend for the Duck Commander 500, we are left to wonder whether or not the issue between Keselowski and Busch is over.

"After I was back on the track, I got into Kurt so he knew that I was upset. I didn’t want to ruin his day, and clearly, I didn’t. He went on to win the race. If I’d wanted to, I would have wrecked him. I don’t believe in intentionally wrecking anyone, so that wasn’t going to happen.Moving ahead, as far as Kurt is concerned, my feeling is this: I got my message out. What’s done is done. I’m ready to move on. Kurt controls what goes on from here. If he feels like he needs to do something else, that’s up to him."

The thing about NASCAR drivers is that they have a knack for storing things away in the back of their minds. Even if nothing happens at Texas, it doesn’t necessarily mean that this is over. Busch could decide to dump Keselowski a month from now when they are in tight quarters at another track and make it seem like it was just close racing. That is just one of the ways that payback works in NASCAR; of course Busch could also dump him in Texas and leave no doubt about what his motives are.

Be sure to tune into FOX on Sunday so that you don’t miss any of the action from Texas Motor Speedway.

Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.

Source: BK Blog