Reutimann run-in avoidable for Busch

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The record must be set straight on the purported first slight between Kyle Busch and David Reutimann.

Though there's apparently bad blood dating back some seven years, when they both drove a bit for Joe Nemechek, it's debatable as to whether Busch meant any real offense when he criticized Reutimann after beating him at Bristol.

The question posed to Busch was innocent: He was essentially asked when he became aware that he had the best car in the field. His answer was more complex, and he seemed to indicate that Reutimann had a better car.

"Reutimann was fast, and he was good," Busch said. "And I'm not going to say why I beat him because then he'll fix it, but it has to do with behind the wheel."

And that's all he meant to say, and many in the room that night took it to mean he simply noticed something in the way Reutimann was driving around Bristol. But it's Kyle Busch, and the fire is easily flamed. So when someone in the back of the room reacted to his statement with a loud "OHHH!" in that no-he-didn't-just-say-that tone, Busch couldn't help himself and continued the thought.

"He wasn't driving the place right, I'm sorry," Busch explained, this time more animated. "If he fixes how to drive this place, he'd be right there with me. I got "OHHH!" because it was going to be some big deal in the media. Jesus."

Well, as we all know now, those comments got back to Reutimann and he didn't much appreciate Busch's assessment. He'd battled a pretty nasty case of food poisoning while pulling out a second-place finish, and Reutimann didn't believe Busch was a qualified expert capable of critiquing his performance.

[From the Marbles: KyBusch lashes out at Reutimann]

So that brings us to last weekend at Kansas, where Reutimann intentionally shoved Busch into the wall. That retaliation was as much about Bristol as it was the early-race contact between the two which ended any chance Reutimann had of competing for the win. But it's ignited a healthy debate over the timing:

• Because Busch is a Chase for the Sprint Cup championship contender, did Reutimann have the right to interfere with his title chances?

• How are non-Chase drivers expected to race Chase drivers?

• And did Busch have it coming to him?

Opinions vary throughout the garage area and in the court of public opinion, and many base their reasoning on which driver they favor. There's a whole bunch of Kyle Busch haters who have no problem at all with what Reutimann did at Kansas.

Personally, I put some of the blame on Busch. He saw Reutimann ahead of him, knew Reutimann had gotten upset about the post-Bristol comments, and could have done a better job of avoiding him when Reutimann's car got loose in front of him.

"I'm not going to spin a guy out right now, not in the Chase," Greg Biffle said this week. "You gotta think that guy is going to be [mad], and they don't care who it is. You spin Kevin Conway out, he's not happy."

Biff is right. Busch was the one with a title on the line Sunday and every reason to avoid danger. He was third in the points and knew Kansas was his weak spot on the Chase schedule. A strong finish, according to Busch, was imperative in keeping his championship hopes on track. So didn't he have some responsibility in avoiding Reutimann in the first place?

Then there's the point raised by Busch's older brother, Kurt. After Reutimann returned to the racetrack, maybe Busch should have been on high alert for potential payback.

"The spotter should have told Kyle Reutimann was coming, and if Kyle wanted to get out of the way, he could have yielded to him then," Kurt said.

Now, what about Reutimann having the courtesy to not intentionally derail Busch's title chances?

There's a large faction – Busch included – who believe payback could have come at a less costly time. He admitted fault in wrecking Reutimann but said it was unintentional. If Reutimann wanted to retaliate, which Busch seemed to understand, he wondered why Reutimann wouldn't wait until next year.

That's a pretty simple answer for Reutimann. He had a good car at Kansas, and after winning at Chicago in July, he probably thought he had a decent chance at the win Sunday – at least until he got spun by Busch.

Reutimann said he didn't get the luxury of asking Busch to wreck him at a more convenient time.

"I had a dang good race car, and I didn't have an opportunity to have a choice of when I wanted to get wrecked or how I wanted to get wrecked," he said.

In talking to drivers, Reutimann is right. These guys live by an etiquette code, and there's a general way of doing things that's accepted throughout the garage.

It seems the only people who have an issue with what Reutimann did are Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing team and manufacturer Toyota, which sponsors both Busch and Reutimann and would prefer its drivers get along.

Reutimann did what most drivers expect – retaliate in the same race, not save the payback for an unsuspecting moment down the road. And he didn't pull over for a Chase driver, which is common practice for the 31 other drivers on the track. Though start-and-parks and Conway generally try to move out of the way of the contenders, drivers with fast, competitive cars have every right to hold their line, race hard and refuse to yield to anyone, even if they are racing for a championship.

And when a Chase contender ruins their day, there's nothing in the NASCAR rulebook or the driver ethics code that says payback is illegal.

"He did it in the same race – not like he waited until next week," Biffle said. "Fix car and wreck him back. That's when you pay the guy back – when your [stuff's] broke.

"Wait till next year to pay [Busch] back? How about [Busch] waits till next year to start with?"

It will be unfortunate for Busch if he bounces back with seven strong runs and falls short of winning the championship because of Kansas. That's something Reutimann will have to live with, and he's already said he's "not proud" of how he handled things Sunday.

But Busch will also have to live with it and wonder what he could have done differently. Right now, he's likely to insist he didn't do anything wrong, that Reutimann got loose, got wrecked, had a bone to pick over the Bristol comments and chose an ill-timed moment to pay him back.

But Busch could have been smarter when he first closed in on Reutimann. And he could have predicted payback and been more aware when Reutimann was in his mirror. And he shouldn't have expected a pass just because he's a Chase driver.

I've long been a supporter of a separate points system for Chase drivers because of this very scenario. But I'll never support non-contenders giving Chase drivers a free pass. They have every right to race for position, and every right to respond when they feel they've been wronged.

That, according to Kurt Busch, is never going to change.

"It's racers being racers.," he said. "The fierce rivalries, the competitiveness, the fire in the belly, desire to go and be a champion driver and to be a winning driver – you're going to have conflicts. That's just part of our sport."