Chase Elliott Respects Kyle Busch, Which Is What Frustrated Him the Most – Autoweek

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Chase Elliott appreciated the gesture from Kyle Busch in reaching out to apologize over their incident on Wednesday night at Darlington Raceway, but it didnt completely soften the blow of the missed opportunity to win a NASCAR Cup Series event.

Busch and Elliott were racing for second place in the Toyota 500 when the two-time and reigning series champion drifted up and turned the sport's Most Popular Driver into the inside retaining wall.

Denny Hamlin was leading and would eventually win during the resulting caution due to a race-ending thunderstorm but was on older tires and essentially a sitting duck for those behind him. Busch was trapped on the inside entering turn 1 and attempted to wedge himself between Elliott and Kevin Harvick, but the gap wasnt there.

The contact destroyed Elliotts No. 9 and left Buschs No. 18 with severe damage. Its plausible that Busch wouldnt have finished second had it not been for the immediate rain that followed the incident.

Meanwhile, Elliott was left fuming, climbing out of his car and delivering Busch the middle finger as he drove by under caution. Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9, marched his crew down pit road to where Busch was parked and had to be dispersed by NASCAR security for not maintaining physical distancing in lieu of current coronavirus containment policies.

Gustafson, who once served as Buschs crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports from 2005-2007, eventually had a one-on-one conversation, with the multi-time Cup Series champion expressing the contrition that he would later tell to the driver.

Busch made the phone call, but Elliott wouldnt concede the matter as a closed case, as it was still a stripped opportunity to win a Cup race.

"Like I told him, I dont think he wrecked me on purpose," Elliott said during a Friday media teleconference. "I think that he was trying to make a spot that wasnt there. And, much like I told him, I get that mistakes happens, thats part of life and I get it.

"Hes just not a guy that makes many mistakes, so for me to be on the poor end of a rare mistake on his end is, at the end of the day, unfortunate for me and my team."

Busch addressed that phone call on Thursday after the Xfinity Series race at Darlington and felt the conversation went well enough.

"Went really well," Busch said. "Hes a class act, weve all seen that. Conversation overall was good."

Busch and Elliott have raced each other for over a decade, dating back to the younger drivers Super Late Model tenure. Busch competes in multiple non-NASCAR races a year and first raced alongside the second-generation racer in the short track ranks.

Until Wednesday, there had never been an issue between them, something acknowledged by both. So it meant something that Busch made the phone call, even if it doesnt undo the damage.

"Kyle and I have gotten along for many years," Elliott said. "I feel like Ive raced him with a lot of respect because I respect him. I think hes really good, and he is. A two-time champion should be respected, in my opinion.

"I think hes earned that right. The respect from my end was there prior to the event, so to hear that from a champion and a guy that weve raced really hard and clean together over the years, I think goes further than someone who I dont care for as much, or somebody I dont get along with as well, or somebody that doesnt race with that kind of respect or that kind of integrity on the track."

Elliott conceded that it will be easier for him to move on if he can get that win back sooner than later.

"Like I said, who knows the situations or the circumstances that youll be presented with down the road," Elliott said. "But at the end of the day, the whole reason Wednesday was as unfortunate as it was because we were battling for a win.

"So, I guess the bottom line is to try to put ourselves in position to win more, and thats a good problem to have. Thats my goal. Who knows the circumstances? Nobodys perfect. I get that, everybody makes mistakes. Im sure Ill make plenty of mistakes as time goes on. I get it, I just hate I was on the wrong end of a rare one on his end."

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Chase Elliott Respects Kyle Busch, Which Is What Frustrated Him the Most - Autoweek