Times wires
Sunday, May 8, 2011
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick have again focused the NASCAR spotlight on who's fighting instead of who's winning.
One race after Juan Montoya and Ryan Newman traded wrecks and words at Richmond, Harvick squared off with Busch after a late crash Saturday night during the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Busch slowly followed Harvick into the pit area after the race. Harvick jumped from his car and tried to punch or grab Busch through his rival's window. Busch slammed into Harvick's driverless car — sending into the pit wall — and drove off.
"I made a judgment call there, and it wasn't one of the best choices that I had," Busch said. " … I hate it that somebody could have gotten hurt, but I was just trying to get away from it and get back to my hauler and go on with my own business."
It was an ugly way to end a race that produced a huge and popular upset as Regan Smith's earned his first Sprint Cup victory in his 105th race.
But the Harvick-Busch spat is sure to keep fans and drivers buzzing all week long leading to Sunday's race at Dover.
NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Sunday that the organization will review both disputes this week.
At Richmond, Montoya and Newman were involved in two on-track incidents. The bad blood continued at Darlington as the two met Friday with NASCAR in a session Tharp said "did not go as well as had hoped it would." Whispers popped up that Newman had punched Montoya during the meeting, something both brushed aside.
Then the Harvick-Busch issue popped up. Those two and Harvick's Richard Childress Racing teammate, Clint Bowyer, were three-wide on the narrow Darlington track. In the previous corner Harvick bumped Busch from behind. Harvick and Bowyer went below Busch and contact sent Bowyer into the interior wall. As cars spun out behind, Busch gathered his car, then veered down the track and sent Harvick spinning.
Smith held on through a green-white-checkered finish to beat points leader Carl Edwards, but the real drama was still to come in the pits.
Both Busch and Harvick were asked to go to the NASCAR hauler and both left composed — though with different versions of events.
Busch said Harvick was guilty of "unacceptable racing."
"I gave him room off of (Turn) 2, I didn't get the room," Busch said.
Harvick said he was racing hard and "things happen. That's it. What do you do?"
What do you do, indeed — except carry the dispute to Dover and watch for more fireworks.