Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch talk it out, move on from COTA dust-up
RICHMOND, Va. — Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell knew questions about their run-in at Circuit of The Americas were coming after their arrival at Richmond Raceway one week later. Bell lived up to his last name when the question came first in his Saturday morning availability, mimicking a game-show sound: “Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner!”
The answer from both NASCAR Cup Series drivers — former teammates who raced for the same spot of real estate on the Texas road course last Sunday — was that they had spoken by phone and tried to sort out their on-track differences. As for how they’ll race each other moving forward, starting with this Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (7 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Richmond, Busch said he expects to compete against Bell with a slightly different approach for now.
“Run him harder for a little bit until he concedes that he’s sorry on the race track,” Busch said, “and then get back to normal.”
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Busch wound up with the short end of their collision in last weekend’s event, with his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet sent spinning after a dive-bomb move from Bell in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Bell drove on to a runner-up finish in his pursuit of eventual winner William Byron, and Busch salvaged ninth place in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
Busch confronted Bell on pit road post-race, angrily pointing fingers and hinting about potential retribution. That prompted Bell to reach out this week in an effort to smooth the rough waters.
“I mean, I was surprised that he called me back,” Bell said. “You know, I called him Monday and he didn’t answer, and then I thought that that was going to be the end of it. And I was really happy that he called me back and we had a conversation, and it was a good conversation. We don’t have a lot of run-ins, but the two times that we have had run-ins, he’s been on the losing side of it. So, I’ll just race him with respect, as I’ve always tried to, and it is what it is.”
Busch said returning the call was a means to explain his point of view, saying that Bell’s maneuver came as a shock.
“I mean, just to give more of my side than what I said on pit road, and to have him give a greater understanding and to my objectives and what I’ve got going on versus what he might think that he’s got going on,” Busch said. “Think he understood that, and then heard his side of it. Didn’t really believe much into it when I didn’t even give consideration to him making a move, because he was four (car) lengths back, and then all of a sudden, he was there. So like, I knew he was back there, but too far to do anything. And I got hit, so it is what it is.”
Bell and Busch have a long history of working hand in hand. Bell was introduced to NASCAR’s national series ranks under the banner of Kyle Busch Motorsports, and he produced a Craftsman Truck Series championship for the organization in 2017. The two were also linked as teammates for Joe Gibbs Racing as Bell progressed through the Xfinity and then Cup Series, up until Busch’s departure for the Childress team ahead of last season.
Bell says the two have remained close, especially as Busch’s 8-year-old son, Brexton, ventures into the dirt-track racing world that Bell knows so well. But Busch also admits that he’d hoped that his mentorship of Bell years ago would have afforded him some extra care in how they compete today.
“Yeah, it’s definitely frustrating, especially when they’re the KBM alums, right?” Busch said. “When you’re racing against guys that have come through KBM, and you’ve helped them along the way, and you feel as though they’re taking that extra 10% rather than giving a little bit out of respect, but everybody’s got their own race out there, and they try to do what they need to do. Obviously, Christopher’s in really good stuff, at a really good place, and he needs to understand that.”
