NASCAR: Kyle Busch addresses Todd Gilliland F-bomb; is he fired?

Kyle Busch addressed the choice words of his NASCAR Truck Series driver Todd Gilliland following Gilliland’s first win, as well as the rumor that he would be fired.

It took him 46 starts, but Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland finally drove his #4 Toyota to victory lane in the NASCAR Truck Series this past Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway.

Gilliland, who was the longest tenured driver in this history of the Kyle Busch-owned team without recording a victory, had been criticized by Busch earlier in the season. Busch stated that he and teammate Harrison Burton “ain’t doing shit” in top-tier equipment.

So when Gilliland took the checkered flag at the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Martinsville Speedway oval in Ridgeway, Virginia, his emotions got the best of him, and they ended up being directed at Busch in an NSFW manner.

Here is what Busch had to say about the matter on NASCAR America presents MotorMouths earlier this week.

"“He went to apologize, kind of the same thing that he said on Twitter. I’m like, ‘OK, it’s all fine. Not really sure that’s the first time you’ve thought of that because it came so easily.’”"

Busch then went on to discuss the rumor that had been going around about Gilliland being fired for making his remark. Busch stated that that is not the case, although he did not touch on Gilliland’s status for the 2020 season, which remains unconfirmed.

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"“Everybody’s wondering, ‘Is he fired?’ No, he’s going to finish out the season.”"

Based on this alone, the easiest assumption is that Gilliland won’t be back with Kyle Busch Motorsports next season, especially since he is now 0 for 2 in terms of qualifying for the playoffs with the top-tier team.

There have been rumors that Gilliland will drive for the team owner by father David Gilliland, DGR-Crosley, next year, and these rumors suggest that Todd was already slated to lose his ride with Kyle Busch Motorsports even before his controversial outburst due to his underperformance, relatively speaking, in top-tier equipment.

At this point, all we know is that Gilliland is set to compete for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the final two races of the 2019 season at ISM Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Will Kyle Busch Motorsports retain Todd Gilliland for the 2020 NASCAR Truck Series season, or will Gilliland end up at DGR-Crosley? Did/will the F-bomb he directed at his boss play a role in this outcome?