Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch almost changed the entire outcome of the race Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With less than two laps to go and Kahne leading the race, Busch collided with the back of Truex Jr. causing caution before Kahne could take the white flag. Two G-W-C restarts later and Kahne would end up winning but Truex Jr. and Busch both ended up finishing worse than they should have as a result of the contact.
More from Kyle Busch
- NASCAR: Darrell Wallace Jr. calls Kyle Busch’s comments stupid
- NASCAR responds to Kyle Busch’s marketing campaign remarks
- NASCAR: Does Kyle Busch have a point, or is he just complaining?
- NASCAR: Ryan Blaney rips Kyle Busch for his recent remarks
- NASCAR: Kyle Busch not thrilled with young driver marketing campaigns
Following the race Truex Jr. was very open about who he felt was at fault.
"We hung in there, fighting for every possible position until Kyle, for whatever reason, ran into the back of me, causing pretty good damage to our car. I passed him clean earlier and then he comes back and hits me from behind. It was totally uncalled for and hard to figure out why he did what he did. We were in the top-17 when that happened and had a chance of picking off a few more positions. Not sure why someone wants to go out and purposely wreck you when you’re racing for 17th. Doesn’t make any sense."
Truex Jr. didn’t just express his frustration during his post-race interview. Apparently Truex Jr. followed Busch and the No. 18 machine to the garage area immediately after the race and parked his car behind the No.18. Those in the garage area including Busch’s crew chief Dave Rogers attest to the fact that Busch remained seated in his car while Truex Jr. stood outside of the No. 18 machine discussing what had happened. Truex Jr. then had a separate conversation with Rogers at which time Busch exited his car and left the garage area.
Rogers gave a quick rundown to MRN about what happened on the track and with Truex Jr. in the garage area.
"They’re hard-nosed competitors, and they don’t cut each other much slack. I talked to Kyle about what happened. He said he was expecting Martin to go in on the bottom, and Kyle was banzaing on the top and trying got get the pass. Martin surprised him by going up top, and Kyle said he got to the brake but he got to the brake too late.He came over and said his peace and asked why Kyle got in the back of him. Martin didn’t say or do anything wrong there. He kept it peaceful. He said what was on his mind, and I think that is accepted. It didn’t get out of control. Kyle tried to explain what happened and I think they agreed to disagree tonight but they’ll probably talk later this week and figure it out."
For Truex Jr. his Atlanta frustrations are most likely similar to the ones that he has been dealing with for most of 2014. With only one race left before the chase Truex Jr. would need to win at Richmond otherwise he will not be partaking in the chase this season. For Busch the level of frustration is high as well. Busch has not had a top-15 finish in the last five races.
Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.