No fences have been mended it seems. Nearly a week after last Saturday’s 400 at Daytona there is still some hurt feelings.
Last Saturday night Stenhouse, who was the defending winner of the race, showed aggressiveness early; he was part of a multi-car crash that erupted on lap 54 and involved a total of 25 cars.
Less than 10 laps later, Stenhouse made contact with Kyle Busch as the two dueled for second place. Busch was sent up and into the turn 4 wall sweeping up then-leader William Byron in the process.
“Disappointing to get crashed out by the same guy that caused the first crash,” said Busch. “You always come to Daytona waiting to crash and figure out when or where and hope you can walk away from it.”
“I was just too aggressive trying to get to his left-rear, trying to get back to the lead and back out front,” was all Stenhouse had to say about that second crash. He later had a police escort to leave the track.
Fast forward to Kentucky Speedway site of this Saturday nights Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race and Busch was asked if Stenhouse had reached out to him this week. Busch said he had not heard from him.
“I am disappointed that he did not,” Busch said.
“You wipe out half the field and pretty sure there would be a pretty busy Monday for him,” he added, “But there wasn’t, so apparently he just doesn’t care.”
Busch was then asked if the lack of communication would change the way Busch races Stenhouse moving forward.
“I can’t – I can’t worry about people that far back in the field,” he said.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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