NASCAR: William Byron had every right to retaliate against Kyle Busch

William Byron had every right to retaliate against Kyle Busch after Busch sent him off the track in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International.

Early on in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch spun out when he attempted to pass Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron for second place.

This incident took place in turn one of the eight-turn, 2.454-mile (3.949-kilometer) Watkins Glen International road course in Watkins Glen, New York during the opening stage of the three-stage, 90-lap race.

Here is a video of this incident.

Busch did recover from this incident, and that did not bode well for Byron.

In typical Kyle Busch fashion, despite the fact that Byron did nothing wrong, Busch sent Byron off the track in the chicane when he ran him down several laps later in the race.

Here are two videos of this incident.

Byron’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, had seen enough at this point. Here is what he had to say to Byron about Busch.

"“If I see the 18 come back here without you knocking the f*** out of him, we’re going to have a problem.”"

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But did Byron have a right to retaliate?

Byron has already been taken advantage of one too many times this season. Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski spun him in practice for the race at Daytona International Speedway in early July for no other reason than to make a point about “not lifting”.

He can’t afford to be Mr. Nice Guy, which echoes the sentiment about respect that Darrell Wallace Jr. set forth about it not mattering who you’re racing. Wallace himself was involved in an even bigger scuffle with Busch later in the race, and his reaction was like Knaus’s, but on steroids.

Of course Byron had a right to get back at Busch.

Anything remotely suggesting otherwise is a ridiculous double standard that he should for some reason not be allowed to drive people the way they drive him, especially when the way they drive him is uncalled for to begin with.

That’s NASCAR.

Busch, who has been known for driving people controversially, drove Byron off the road for an incident that Busch got himself into and in which he embarrassed himself by failing to pull off the pass and spinning out. He felt the need to lay the blame on somebody else for no other reason than to get a point across, and Byron happened to be on the receiving end of his road rage.

Of course, in embarrassing fashion, Byron ended up damaging his #24 Chevrolet to a far greater extent than he damaged Busch’s #18 Toyota when he went for retaliation.

Busch brake checked Byron right before contact between the two cars was made, so Byron ended up effectively knocking himself out of contention.

Here is a video of this incident to go along with the animated audio from Knaus stemming from Busch running Byron off the track.

Busch remained competitive but Byron ended up only being able to recover for a 21st place finish.

Whether or not the fact that Byron’s retaliation attempt failed will result in further action being taken moving forward by the 21-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native against the 34-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada remains unknown, but nobody would or should blame him if it does.

Will anything come of William Byron’s run-in with Kyle Busch down the road, especially since Byron’s initial retaliation attempt failed? Regardless, he had every right to get back at the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series champion for his antics in Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen International.