DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch says the reason he gets along with Kyle Larson even after their physical last-lap tussle at Chicagoland Speedway is because of the respect he has for Larson.
Busch says he can’t say the same thing about every driver.
“See, the reason why Larson and I get along, and the reason why Larson and I can have a relationship and have respect for one another is because at Bristol I bumped him with five to go, he had a chance to come back and get me back,” Busch said of the April Cup race he won. “(Larson) didn’t get there.
“At Chicago, he bumped me, gave me an opportunity to come back for him, right?
“Brad (Keselowski) and I can’t absolutely stand one another, hate each other, because every time he runs into me, he wrecks me and I’m out, right? Like Watkins Glen that time. There was not a chance for rebuttal.
“The reason why that was a great race to the end with him and (Marcos) Ambrose is because they battled it out. But every time he just runs over me and wrecks me so there’s never a chance for that rebuttal. There’s never that camaraderie with racing. It’s just wrecking.”
Watkins Glen has been particularly troublesome for Busch and Keselowski.
Last year, the two spun after colliding in the bus stop when Busch made a move to pass off a restart.
In 2012, the race Busch noted, Busch spun after contact with Keselowski in the esses on the last lap. Keselowski went on to finish second to Ambrose while Busch finished seventh.
In 2013, Keselowski wrecked after contact from Busch in an Xfinity race at Kansas.
In 2016, Busch hit the wall after contact from Keselowski at Bristol in the Xfinity race. Busch had just passed Keselowski with five laps to go.
Busch spun at the start of the Xfinity race at Michigan in June 2017 after contact from Keselowski.
Busch and Keselowski have a long history. In 2010 at Bristol, Brad Keselowski said on the microphone during driver introductions: “Kyle Busch is an ass.”
Last November at the press conference for the four championship drivers before the Miami race, Busch said of Keselowski: “Sometimes you just don’t like a guy. I never ran into Matt Kenseth. I don’t think Matt Kenseth ever ran into me. There is a respect factor out there on the race track and you can certainly do a better job sometimes when you’re around some of those guys that you may or may not necessarily like.”
