NASCAR: Was Kyle Busch aware of Todd Gilliland’s F-bomb outburst?

Did Kyle Busch know what Todd Gilliland said to him before he made his way to victory lane to congratulate Gilliland on securing his first NASCAR Truck Series victory?

“Kyle Busch you can stay in your f—ing motorhome!” shouted Todd Gilliland on the radio inside his #4 Toyota after he took the checkered flag at Martinsville Speedway to secure the first victory of his NASCAR Truck Series career.

The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver had faced scrutiny from his team owner earlier in the season, as did teammate Harrison Burton. Busch stated that they “ain’t doing shit” in their top-tier equipment, and they both ultimately failed to qualify for the playoffs. Burton is still seeking his first career win.

Yet Busch didn’t stay anywhere.

Like most if not all team owners would, he went right down to victory lane to congratulate the 19-year-old Sherrills Ford, North Carolina native on securing his first victory.

But was he aware of the remark his driver made toward him before greeting him in victory lane to congratulate him?

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

"“I just walked up to him and said ‘Hey man, congratulations. Good job. You got it done, won your race. You and the team. Keep it going. And then, obviously, I found out a little bit more about what all…”"

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Busch was interrupted when he said that and asked if he really didn’t know what Gilliland had said when he went to congratulate him.

"“I may or may not have known before I went up there…just handled it the way I did in the instance.”"

Based on Busch catching himself here, it seems like a pretty safe bet that he congratulated Gilliland without knowing what had gone down just moments beforehand and that he found out shortly thereafter.

At any rate, it really doesn’t matter now; it’s 2019, and people find things out like this within minutes thanks to social media. Busch was going to figure it out shortly thereafter one way or another.

Now he knows about it, and while he didn’t touch on whether or not Todd Gilliland would be back with Kyle Busch Motorsports next year, Kyle Busch did say that no, he is not fired and that yes, he is still in line to drive the #4 Toyota in the final two races of the 2019 NASCAR Truck Series season at ISM Raceway at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the coming weeks.