Alex Bowman responds to the radio comments from Kyle Busch
Las Vegas native Kyle Busch started his weekend with a hurdle. He crashed his primary car during practice on Saturday afternoon.
Read what Kyle Busch said on the radio below.
Qualifying directly followed practice and Busch was unable to participate. That put him in the back of the grid for Sunday.
The team unloaded an unmarked backup car on Saturday. They worked late through the night to prepare the machine as backups are limited. Joe Gibbs Racing only had one backup car ready, shared between all teams.
However, that car wasn’t prepared. When it unloaded, ‘Hamlin’ was printed on the back window. The setup also needed to be installed.
The car was prepared with help from all four JGR teams. And by the end of stage one, Kyle Busch drove into the top 10.
He battled hard with Chase Briscoe for the stage 1 position. After the green and checkered flag, Busch drove into the back of Briscoe, under caution. Busch was frustrated with the driver.
With around 40 laps to go, Kyle Busch held off Ross Chastain to take the lead on a restart. With 20 to go, Martin Truex Jr had a faster car but he spent the next 17 laps unsucessfully trying to make a pass for the lead.
Kyle Busch appeared to be heading for his first win of the season. It would have been a rebound weekend.
Final restart: 2 tires vs 4 tires
Yet, with just three laps to go, Erik Jones got loose and slammed the outside wall. With a broken right front he uncontrollably spun across the track, bringing out a caution.
All of the leaders hit the pit lane. Kyle Busch took four tires and his crew got him out first of the others cars that elected for 4 tires. However, teammates Alex Bowman, William Byron and Kyle Larson all took just two tires.
When the green dropped, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman ran side by side. They remained side by side until the final corner, Alex Bowman prevailed, grabbing his first win of the year.
Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was trapped behind the side by side battle, despite having four tires. And, the one thing Kyle Busch hates more than finishing 2nd is finishing 4th.
Kyle Busch curses Alex Bowman on radio after Las Vegas; Bowman responds
Kyle Busch radio: “The same fucking guy who backs into every fucking win that he ever fucking gets backs into another fucking win. Bullshit!”
After the race, Alex Bowman became aware of Kyle Busch’s comments. He responded via twitter, “Yikes…. T shirt?”
Last year, Bowman drove to victory lane and was called a ‘Hack’ by Denny Hamlin. Bowman then created an sold t-shirts with ‘Hack’ printed on them.
Hamlin, teammates to Kyle Busch stated in 2021, “He’s just a hack.”
Related: Alex Bowman brilliantly embraces ‘HACK’ comments from Denny Hamlin
Kyle Busch comments after the race
“It wasn’t meant to be. Not our day,” Kyle Busch told FOX Sports after the race.
“Our guys did a great job with a four tire stop, we were the first one’s off with four. But, there was Hendrick cars that took two [tires]. There was three of them. Which plugged up the front row and gave them a shot to be able to go race for the win on a green-white-checkered.”
“They had the right strategy. They did the right thing to block out the rest of the competition behind them.”
“I did think I had a shot. I thought four would prevail. But, obviously not.”
As for the backup car, that wasn’t an issue. The spec chassis makes backup cars less of a disadventage.
“It was fine. They’re all the same. They’re bought from Walmart,” Busch added.
Alex Bowman comments after the win
“This thing was so fast all day. Just never really had the track position to show it,” Alex Bowman stated after the race,” Bowman stated.
“What a call by Greg Ives and the guys, to take 2 [tires] there. It paid off.”
“Racing Kyle’s always fun. I’ve got to race him for a couple wins and we always race each other super clean and super respectfully.”
“It’s been a pretty awful start to the year. So, to come out here and get a win on a last restart deal, is pretty special.”
Related: Las Vegas race results from March 6, 2022 (NASCAR Cup Series)
Links
Kyle Busch | Alex Bowman | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | NASCAR
