Busch baffled by steaming Stewart
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
March 13, 2006
11:41 AM EST (16:41 GMT)
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- For the second time this season, sophomore Nextel Cup Series driver Kyle Busch plans to get together with Tony Stewart, after Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, to smooth over differences created on the racetrack.
The season is only three races old, but in the aftermath of his third-place finish versus Stewart's 21st, Busch vowed to meet with -- or at least speak to -- the defending Nextel Cup champion this week before the series heads to Atlanta.
"I'm sure he's already left the racetrack," Busch said. "If I can't catch him at the airport, I'll try to find his phone number during the week or go find him in Atlanta before practice starts to try to clear the air and get it over with and get it behind us."
Busch isn't sure what he needs to say, but he has no question about being compelled to seek the "chitchat," as he called it.
"You have to clear the air," Busch said. "You don't want to get spun out at Atlanta -- that would hurt."
In the last 80 laps of Sunday's race, Busch was the target of repeated assaults over Stewart's in-car radio and at least one case of contact between their racecars that had him questioning Stewart's intentions on his own radio.
Asked about the reference that Stewart "was trying to kill me," after the next-to-last restart with 30 laps remaining, Busch nodded his head.
"That was me and I was referring to Stewart because he was driving into the corners too deep and getting underneath my rear bumper and getting me a little bit sideways," Busch said. "A lot of drivers would recognize that as being very unappreciative.
"You never like going off into a corner at 180 miles an hour and getting your rear tires lightened up by air and having the chance to spin out and hit the wall, so it's never fun."
Just after the 200-lap mark, Stewart was third and starting to air his frustration over the crippling aerodynamic effects of being behind the second-place Busch.
Stewart's profanity-laced exchanges were offset by attempts from the sidelines to calm him down and keep him focused. Stewart alternately raged and apologized on his radio, at least once asking his crew to continue reminding him to be patient and stay focused.
With 41 laps remaining, Stewart finally was able to drive under Busch and pass him, and five laps later he turned the fastest lap of the top-five leaders. The aerodynamic deficiencies of following versus leading were immediately apparent to Busch, who asked his crew as he was passed again, "Where'd they all come from?"
When the next-to-last caution flew at lap 234, Stewart was so agitated that he told his crew he could not suggest any changes to the car because Busch had him so distracted. He did infer on the radio that that might work in his favor.
"You know how I get sometimes," Stewart said. "Sometimes it's an advantage when I get this pissed off."
How incensed he was was obvious after the race when Stewart exited his car and, after walking around it to look at the damage to its right side and going to his hauler to change clothes, he simply left the garage.
He paused only to shake the hands of most of his crewmen who were behind the hauler and to speak briefly with a couple other team members. He exchanged words with several media members but offered no explanations for the race's final chapter.
A statement was later delivered to the media.
"What I'm upset about is that with 80 laps to go we're sitting there for 15-20 laps behind [Busch] trying to get by and he's holding us up for no reason," Stewart said. "With 80 laps to go he's holding us up and we all have another pit stop to make."
It was at that point, both drivers explained, that they had a serious difference of opinion.
"Work on your car and go on," Stewart said of what he felt was Busch's best option. "There's just an etiquette. I'm frustrated with it and I honestly think I have every right to be.
"There's absolutely no reason to hold a driver up when there's 80 laps to go. That's the only thing I was disappointed about."
Busch said he had no choice, but had a different reference point for the trouble.
"The first time we really got going after each other was with about 40 [laps] to go -- maybe about 45 to go or something like that," Busch said. "That's the perfect amount of laps to go where it's time to dig in deep and get after it and get on top of the wheel and start going.
"There is no more rolling over and playing dead and letting guys go and stuff like that -- Mark Martin style. It's time to race and it's time to get after it and that's what I was doing.
"If I might have aggravated Stewart a little bit, then I apologize to him for that. But if I give up one spot to him, then I get aero-tight behind him and then I'm going back five, eight, or 10 spots like I did.
"I think I gave up third spot to either him or Kahne or somebody -- and then I fell all the way back to eighth. It was definitely one of those deals where, when you get stuck back in traffic, it's hard to get clean air and pick your way back through, especially for my car today for some reason."
Following a final round of pit stops under caution, Busch's Hendrick Motorsports crew put him back on the racetrack one spot in front of Stewart as they restarted fourth and fifth.
Stewart got into the back of Busch at least once after the green flag, which was part of what had Busch bemused.
"It didn't get me out of shape on the straightaway," Busch said of Stewart easing under his car's bumper and lifting it slightly. "But it's pretty inappropriate because you can recognize the fact that you can't bump-draft with these cars because the noses are down and the tails are up and you can get under people and you can turn them sideways.
"So he did it just enough to where he was trying to deliver a message. To figure out exactly what that message was [was impossible]. Yeah, I know he's mad at me because he was giving me all kinds of hand signals, so I'll just have to figure it out."
Shortly after that backstretch contact, Stewart scraped the wall, which signaled the end of his chances for a decent finish. He began dropping back and his car's right rear tire began deflating.
He had to pit under the final caution, which knocked him back to 27th for the final restart before he made up six spots to finish 21st -- which was disappointing after he led 54 laps.
"I had to push so hard to get by Kyle, we just got tight behind him and brushed the wall [on lap 256]," Stewart said. "That's probably where we did the damage to the tire, but for sure it shoved the fender in. That's what made me tight and lost us all those positions.
"I'm not blaming Kyle for that because that was after the last pit stop -- you've got less than 30 laps to go, you've got to race at that point. I have no ill feelings toward him over me hitting the wall while I was behind him."
But while Stewart made no bones about his ire over the previous 50 laps, Busch still defended his stance, and his confusion over Stewart's reaction.
"I wouldn't say [Stewart] is picking on me," Busch said. "I would just have to say that maybe there was something that I did that I couldn't tell. I'm inside my racecar and I can't see what I'm doing outside of it.
"If I slipped up and slid in front of him one time, and whatever, then it was just my mistake on that part. We need to have another sit-down I guess and try to figure out exactly what I did wrong so I can try to change it and fix it."
Busch was pressed again on why he felt it necessary to seek out Stewart.
"I don't know if it's because I'm 20 years old and I'll accept all the blame, or whatever," Busch said. "But I can't see what I'm doing from inside my racecar outside -- you have to go back and look at the film -- but I don't remember running into his door at all today or getting under his rear bumper at all."
Busch finally said not for anyone to expect a radical change in his driving tactics.
"The racetrack is not only theirs, but it's mine, too," Busch said. "That's the only thing that I'd like to try to gain a little respect on. I raced fine with Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne today -- everybody I was ever around.
"For some reason, it's 40 laps to go and I'm digging in deep and getting on top of my steering wheel and not letting Tony Stewart pass me and for some reason, I've got a problem. So I don't know."
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