Kyle Busch (finally) sounds off on Gragson, Gilliland Truck Series run-in: ‘You do not wreck a teammate’
By Nick Tylwalk
Kyle Busch didn’t say it in so many words, but he made it pretty clear who he thought deserved the blame for the wreck that took out two of his trucks racing for the win in Canada last week.
One of the most memorable finishes of any race in the three national NASCAR series happened last weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The Truck Series playoff opener featured an intense battle between teammates Noah Gragson and Todd Gilliland that ended when the former made contact with the latter in the final turn of the last lap, wrecking them both and allowing someone not driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports (Justin Haley, lest we forget) to earn an improbable victory.
In the immediate aftermath, Gilliland fumed and mused about wanting to fight his teammate. Gragson apologized and accepted blame, looking like he might break down in tears. Yet for several days, the man whose name is on the team, Kyle Busch himself, has been largely radio silent on the incident.
He finally elaborated on his stance Friday, speaking to ESPN’s Bob Pockrass. No reading between the lines is necessary.
"Noah Gragson wiped out Todd Gilliland, and I have not spoken to either one of them. There was a team meeting. I spoke to the crew chiefs on how to handle the team meeting and what to say, but I was not there to say it.Any time a new driver comes to KBM, there’s always been the explanation, you do not wreck a teammate and [you] treat a teammate with utmost respect because you don’t want to have to be in those meetings on Monday."
It doesn’t get much clearer than “Noah Gragson wiped out Todd Gilliland” and “you do not wreck a teammate.” Some fans and pundits have taken Gragson’s side. Kyle Busch, team owner, is not one of them.
(Would Kyle Busch, driver, feel differently? That’s up for you to decide for now.)
Next. Are there lots of secret Rowdy fans lurking out there?. dark
If he wasn’t super busy racing for a NASCAR Cup Series championship, we’d like to think Rowdy would have been at the shop to deliver the message in person and it would not have been fun. As it stands, we’re guessing his KBM drivers get it now and we don’t expect to see anything like that happen again.
Probably. Unless it does.