Racing } Kyle Busch under fire after wrecking Hornaday
- Kyle Busch did something in Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race that won't be soon forgotten.
By Todd Warshaw, Getty Images for NASCAR
Kyle Busch heads to the garage at Texas Motor Speedway after NASCAR parked him for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday under caution during Friday's Trucks race.
Under a caution brought out on lap 15 of the Winstar World Casino 350K at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch drove into the rear of Ron Hornaday's truck, spinning the championship contender into the wall and ending the night for both drivers.
NASCAR parked Busch for the night with possibly more penalties to come; Hornaday's car was ruined.
The intentional act drew an immediate firestorm on Twitter among NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, with Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson among those speaking out.
And Kevin Harvick, owner of Hornaday's No. 33 truck and the eventual winner of the race, was heard on the radio after the incident saying, "Kyle Busch is going to get his ass whipped, I hope. He better sit in his motor home. I'm going to find him."
Hornaday, who entered the night 15 points behind series leader Austin Dillon, told reporters afterward that NASCAR should park Busch for Sunday's Sprint Cup race.
"That's just ignorant and stupid. I don't know what you want to call it. He's such a candy-ass," Hornaday said. "He won't stay around to get a whooping like he's supposed to get. It's a shame. It's not like I did anything wrong. I ran him down from a straightaway. He knew I was faster."
Busch was interviewed on Speed, which was airing the race, and said Hornaday was being careless when he tried to split a lapped truck and Busch going around a corner. Hornaday got loose, grazing Busch, whose No. 18 Toyota side-swiped the wall. That brought out the caution, and that's when Busch accelerated into Hornaday's bumper.
"If you consider Ron was in the championship, maybe Ron could have played it a little bit smarter on lap 15 and checked up a little bit," Busch said. "Obviously if you make it a three-wide situation, I can't go in the dirt. There's not three lanes out here.
"If I just lay over and give up everything for Ron Hornaday, that's not Kyle Busch's fashion. I'm out here to win a race just as much as anyone else is.
"I ended up losing my cool. I've been wrecked four weeks in a row, and finally I just had enough of it."
NASCAR was set to meet with Busch and crew chief Eric Phillips after the race; it wasn't immediately clear what kind of discipline would be handed out.
On Twitter immediately following the wreck, Keselowski tweeted, "No place for intentional wrecking in this sport. That's ridiculous!"
Keselowski, who along with Busch is a Chase for the Cup contender, added later on Twitter: "Imo, Regardless of anyone's thoughts or precedents about retaliation, intentionally altering the points standings should be a huge penalty."
Harvick wrapped up the season owners' title for his No. 2 truck, finishing ahead of series points leader and polesitter Austin Dillon, who takes a 20-point lead over Johnny Sauterinto the final race in two weeks.
James Buescher finished 19th, but was third right behind Dillon before running out of fuel on a caution that set up a green-white-checkered finish. Buescher dropped from second to third in points, 28 back.
That yellow flag wiped out a 4-second lead for Harvick, but he still drove to his fourth victory of the season and 13th in the series.
Busch and Hornaday made contact when trying to go three-wide around a slower truck of Johnny Chapman, who was on the inside. Hornaday ended up in the middle and made contact with Busch when they got loose, then both bushed the wall before the caution flag came out.
"I think Kyle definitely showed his immaturity, and why he's just one of those guys that just can't stand to loose, and just a poor loser," Harvick said. "Unfortunate for Ron. It's too bad that a guy over here trying to win races got in the middle of the championship fight. At some point, he'll feel the pain."
"This is just stupid," Hornaday said. "He knew I was there. … He just drove me into the fence."
Hornaday dropped to third to fourth in points, his deficit increasing from 15 points to 48 after finishing 34th in the 36-truck field.
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