“He just wiped out a few cars, and then the 9 was coming by and he clipped him on the way out.” Denny Hamlin’s words about a chaotic driver in Saturday’s Cup Series race were pointed. No, it was not Austin Dillon, who did a ferocious bump-and-run on Hamlin and Joey Logano in the 2024 race at Richmond Raceway. This time, it was a name a diehard NASCAR fan would never have expected – Kyle Busch. However, the No. 9 driver is lenient.
Gone are the days of clinching Cup Series trophies like berries in a garden. Now, Kyle Busch only looks back longingly at his twin championships and 63 race wins, hoping to relive his past. Multiple hurdles arise in his quest, including causing a multi-car wreck in Richmond. However, his rivals understand.
Kyle Busch sets things straight with top 2025 prospect
Well, Kyle Busch has not been a driver to apologize quickly. Nicknamed ‘Rowdy’, the Cup Series legend has been notoriously known for his past conflicts. From spinning out Ron Hornaday Jr. in a 2011 Truck race to engaging in a fist fight with Joey Logano in 2017, Busch has been unforgiving in many scuffles. However, with mechanical issues and a fall in pace extending his winless streak, Busch felt compelled to apologize for his Cook Out 400 fireworks. On lap 198, Busch made contact with Chase Briscoe’s right rear, sending him spinning and into traffic. Chase Elliott was trying to escape this sudden melee when Busch hit him in the right-rear corner, sending him nose-first into the outside wall.
That marked Chase Elliott’s first DNF of the season and effectively ended his 2025 regular-season championship hopes. Elliott was in a tight battle with his teammate, William Byron. But after finishing last in Richmond, Byron overtook him by 61 points for the regular season title. Wrecking the Most Popular Driver of NASCAR clearly rattled Kyle Busch, as he went out of his usual way to apologize.
That is what Elliott revealed in a recent interview: “Kyle did reach out to me. He apologized for what happened.” Elliott also spoke compassionately, “I don’t have any differing opinion on it. I was never mad at him. I knew it was a mistake right when I saw it. So, I don’t… it sucks and I hated it. It killed our night and then regular season championship hopes kind of all at the same time, but I knew that was nothing he did on purpose or wasn’t anything aimed at us. It’s just a way it all went down…I’m not mad.”
The wreck involved 11 different cars. That huge carnage included Denny Hamlin, who had lost track position after consecutive slow pit stops. Others involved Justin Haley and Brad Keselowski. Losing track of one’s way in this hullabaloo was understandable, as Chase Elliott continued defending Kyle Busch. Elliott said, “We didn’t realize we were all coming by, gathering down the bottom. Obviously, he just got through the wreck, like a lot of us…And when that stuff happens, sometimes it’s really hard to pick up and recognize where everyone is at…Sometimes it’s just very difficult to regain that whole picture really fast like that. There was a lot going on, and I totally get it.”
While Chase Elliott lets off Kyle Busch for his Richmond chaos, the Hendrick Motorsports driver also deals with a problem of his own.
Apologizing for his own actions
Chase Elliott usually reigns supreme in terms of a good reputation. He is a 7-time Most Popular Driver award winner and commands a large army of swooning fans. Hence, imagining the HMS No. 9 Chevrolet driver getting in trouble is a little difficult. However, that is what Elliott came close to at Richmond Raceway. Long before Kyle Busch initiated contact with him, Elliott received a vehicle interference penalty. The 2020 Cup Series champion apparently cut the pit box of Chase Briscoe. This happened when the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota was already in the box. Thus, Elliott narrowly avoided contact between the two cars.
Chase Elliott tried to defend his stance, detailing how difficult it is with the pit stops crowded together. “It’s a really tough position, especially when you’re directly behind the car that’s pitted right behind your stall because the front tire carriers are carrying two tires. You get in a position where if I get too far over to the right, I’m going to be stopped, and now he’s not going to be able to get out of his box.” At the same time, however, Elliott accepted the penalty and apologized to Briscoe. “All I was trying to do was just take as much room as I could to get back straight and not cause another issue at the end of the pit stop. It was nothing beyond that. Obviously, I got too aggressive with it, but it was an unfortunate situation.”
Evidently, both Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch had reasons to apologize for after Richmond. What matters is that both now have a clean slate.
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