NASCAR: Kyle Busch issues rare apology for post-race interview

Kyle Busch apologized for using a word he used during a post-race interview after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.

Kyle Busch was left frustrated with how Sunday’s round of 8 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville Speedway ended.

Though he finished in second place after starting the 500-lap Xfinity 500 around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) oval in Ridgeway, Virginia one point above the Championship 4 cut line, the points accrued by the other contenders in the first two stages left the driver of the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota needing a win after a late overtime restart.

With teammate Martin Truex Jr. running in fourth place, Busch needed to pass race leader Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports in the final two laps. He was unable to do so and settled for second place.

Third place driver Brad Keselowski of Team Penske found himself in a position similar to Busch — needing to win to advance, due to where Truex was running (and in Keselowski’s points scenario, where Busch was running).

Keselowski made contact with Busch in an attempt to spin him out coming off of turn four, and after that proved unsuccessful, more contact was made between the two of them in turn one on the cooldown lap.

The move left Busch baffled, considering second place would not have done Keselowski any good in terms of advancing — and Busch didn’t advance himself.

With that being said, Keselowski making the move before the checkered flag could be seen as justified, considering it could have been for the win if Bowman’s #48 Chevrolet ended up failing post-race inspection.

This situation led Busch to use a word in one of his post-race interviews for which he later apologized, though given NASCAR’s recent history with this particular word, it could lead to further punishment.

Here is what he had to say about the Keselowski incident.

"“He drills my ass coming out of [turn] four for no reason. I mean, where was he going? What was he going to do? Spin me out? He was trying to do a Harvick is what he was trying to do. For what? For second place? To do what? He wasn’t going to transfer through with that!“Just fricking retarded man. So stupid. I don’t understand these guys. I should beat the shit out of him right now is what I should do, but that doesn’t do me any good either. … I’ve already had to pay enough fines in my lifetime. I’m sure I’ll get another one.”"

He later apologized on Twitter, a telling sign considering that this is something that doesn’t often happen.

While the “-ed” word Busch used technically differs from the word used by Hailie Deegan before the season began, in that a case could be made that he used it in a less offensive way (by definition), NASCAR’s punishment for Deegan — requiring sensitivity training — or some kind of fine is expected for Busch as well.

A sensitivity training completion requirement may not be considered a severe punishment, though it could prove to be since it can technically be classified as an indefinite suspension if completion is required before Busch is allowed back on the track. Then again, he could very well just receive a fine (or less), but the precedent appears to have been set.