The racing in the mid-pack of the modern NASCAR Cup Series is cutthroat and two-time champion Kyle Busch is realizing it on a weekly basis this summer.
Busch crashed for the fourth time in seven races on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, also finishing 27th or worse for the sixth time in nine races, and his playoff chances have cratered over the past two months as a result.
This time, Busch crashed in Turn 1 off the nose of Corey Lajoie on a restart with 40 laps remaining. Busch blocked a run from Lajoie, who didn’t lift, and the second perceived block resulted in the contact that resulted in the crash.
The byproduct of their racing incident is that Busch came back up the track, almost like a bowling ball that also knocked into AJ Allmendinger, Harrison Burton, Ryan Preece and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It completely destroyed the Preece car.
In real time, Busch’s team owner Richard Childress called Lajoie ‘a weapon, a damn weapon,’ while Lajoie was adamant that the No. 8 hooked himself.
Busch didn’t offer much after being released from infield care center and was seemingly restrained in his commentary.
“That’s just racing these days. It’s what happens,” Busch said.
And then when pressed again:
“You have mirrors and cameras and everything else so you try to get in front of the run that’s coming and I was trying to get in front of that run and sometimes some don’t lift [behind you going] kamikaze,” he added.
For his part, Lajoie said after the race that he wouldn’t do anything differently on his way to a 19th place finish.
“No, you have to take the run,” Lajoie said. “You know, I don’t want to … I’m not the guy that wants to wreck anybody, but I think if Kyle blocks only once, then we both go around the corner and live to fight another day. But that second block that he thought he had it covered and he didn’t was what did him in and did a couple other guys in. But man, it is really hard. It is so freakin’ hard to run 19th. I mean, it’s all I got, tongue hanging out, so you have to be perfect.”
He is also adamant that he did not intentionally crash Busch for the block, citing the respect and past racing history between them.
“I think Kyle and I have been racing around each other long enough, we’re not going to smash into each other on purpose,” LaJoie said. “We both are guys that feel like we belong, certainly him, but I mean, I’m not going to say sorry. I’m not sorry about it, because that was the thing. If the shoe was on the other foot, the exact same thing would’ve happened, and I think he would probably say that.”
Burton just chalked it up, again, to how cutthroat racing back there is.
“It’s always erratic. That’s what we do now,” Burton said. “It’s just part of how we race. These cars are so close, and track position is so important, you just have to kind of race like an ass, which is hard. It’s hard to do and not overstep your bounds. That’s just the nature of this beast. The best guys at it are really smooth and consistent while being at that level.”
Busch is now 102 points out of a playoff spot and one more race closer to ending what is now a record 19 consecutive seasons at the highest level with at least one victory.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
