Busch thought Stenhouse would have a ‘busy week’ on the phone after ‘wiping out half the field’
Ricky Stenhouse Jr was involved in a lot of accidents at Daytona International Speedway last week. Some of them were his fault, others were not.
Two of them resulted in huge crashes at the front of the field, in back to back caution periods. In one of those, Stenhouse clipped the left rear of Kyle Busch. That turned him into Byron and it took out both the leader and second place in a single shot as Stenhouse assumed the lead.
A call after an on-track accident can go a long way. Joey Logano fells a call to Matt Kenseth after Kansas Speedway would have prevented what Kenseth did in famed fashion at Martinsville Speedway a few weeks later.
After Daytona, there was no call.
Dustin Long: Did Ricky Stenhouse reach out to you? If so, was it worth while or a waste of time?
“He did not reach out,” Kyle Busch clarifies from Kentucky Speedway.
There was a bit of a pause, “I am disappointed that he did not.”
Why?
“He wiped out half the field. I was pretty sure there’d be a pretty busy money for him. But, there wasn’t.”
“So, apparently he just doesn’t care.”
Does that change how you race him?
“I can’t worry about people that far back in the field.”
Ahead of Kentucky Speedway Kyle Busch has an average finish of 8th with 5 wins in the 2018 season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr has an average finish of 18th.
Claire B Lang: Some drivers don’t want a call. It doesn’t do anything. It doesn’t change anything. Are you one of those that feels that’s what you gotta do and that it does make you feel better?
“If you don’t care… Then, don’t reach out. If you did it purposefully then don’t reach out.”
“But, if you actually have some remorse and you’re apologetic or need to be then I tend to reach out. When I make mistakes or when I do things that I feel like hindered other drivers then I always reach out.”
“Just say something like, ‘Hey man, I’m sorry I got into you. I’m sorry.’ It’s whatever, it’s not going to change the fact but at least you took that step.”
“That’s my mindset. Other drivers have different mindsets.”
It certainly doesn’t help things as Ricky Stenhouse Jr has been called out for being too aggressive at previous superspeedway races since winning two in 2017.
Kyle Busch is now resetting his focus. The field heads to Kentucky Speedway this weekend.
“Typically, we always go to restrictor plate tracks knowing we’re gonna crash. That doesn’t bother us much. We just come out this week for a mile and a half and concentrate on what we can control.
Kyle Busch comments on Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Stenhouse crashes at Daytona International Speedway
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Related: Joey Logano made a phone call to Kyle Busch after Las Vegas
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Related: Joey Logano wishes he made a phone call to Matt Kenseth after Kansas Speedway
Related: Ricky Stenhouse Jr was given a security escort out of Daytona
Related: Daytona: Race Results – July 7, 2018
Related: Brad Keselowski issues a warning to rookie drivers that throw a ‘bad block’
Links
Kyle Busch | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Daytona International Speedway | NASCAR
