NASCAR officials met with Kyle Busch and Joey Logano before Friday’s Cup practice session at Phoenix Raceway to discuss last weekend’s last-lap incident and post-race altercation at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The meeting lasted about 15 minutes.
Afterward, Busch answered every media question by saying: “Everything is great. Really looking forward to getting back into my car and being here in Phoenix’’ or some form of that statement.
Logano had more to say afterward.
“Just tried to explain that, hey, I made a mistake underneath him,’' Logano said. “That’s basically what it was. He asked for some data, and I was able to show him that. That’s that and we’ll move on and we’ll start practicing in a little bit.’'
Asked if he felt Busch had a better understanding of Logano’s side after seeing the data, Logano said: “I hope so. You never know, Hope so. Hope he was able to see that and I was sincere about that. Time will tell.’'
Asked if he felt things were good with Busch, Logano said: “I guess time will tell. We’ll see. The only thing I could do in this case was plead my case and say that it was an honest mistake, it was hard racing at the end.’'
Fox Sports 1 broadcast both driver sessions with the media after their meeting.
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, told Fox Sports 1 after the meeting: “It’s always our job to bring them face-to-face vs. texting to hear where drivers really stand. The ultimate goal for us is to make them clear of our expectations moving forward.’'
Asked what those expectations are, O’Donnell told FS1: “In terms of on-track, they’re very clear on something that is an intentional act, we’re going to react to, we don’t want to have to do that. Do we think they’re best friends? No, but, again, that’s not what this sport is built on. Those are two guys that we really need out there racing hard for position.’'
NASCAR did not penalize either driver for their actions at Las Vegas but stated that they would speak to both drivers before either got back on track.
Logano and Busch were racing for fourth on the backstretch on the final lap last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Busch came down the track and hit Logano’s car to squeeze between Logano and Brad Keselowski’s car. Busch’s action caused Logano to enter Turn 3 at a lower entry. That led to contact, which Logano broke down on Fox Sports 1’s “Race Hub” on Tuesday night.
After the race, Busch walked up pit road and approached Logano. Busch immediately threw a punch but Logano said he wasn’t hit. Logano went after Busch, but was pulled away from the scene as crew members from both teams swarmed. A NASCAR security official pulled Busch, who had blood coming out of a cut on his forehead, out of the scrum.
Logano said on FS1’s “Race Hub” that he called Busch on Tuesday.