Agitated Kurt Busch Calls Out Jeff Gordon; Gordon Responds

After getting a bump from Jeff Gordon, short-tempered Kurt Busch saw red during Sunday’s race at Martinsville and retaliated in a big way, spinning Gordon out on the frontstretch at lap 385.

His face red, the clearly agitated Busch tried to choose his words as carefully as he could after the race, but his frustration showed through.

“Yeah, he shoved me in there and I shoved him back in Turn 4,” Busch said. “Didn’t mean to get into him that hard, but over the years with Gordon here wrecking the 97 (Busch’s old car) and wrecking the 2 car (with Rusty Wallace), whether you’re a current Kurt fan or an ex-Rusty fan, he’s wrecked the 2 car a lot here.”

Gordon, told of Busch’s comments, offered a resigned half-smile.

“Why does that not surprise me that he said that?” Gordon said. “I think if we just let him talk, that’s all that needs to be said.”

Gordon’s explanation was that he was “quite a bit faster” than Busch and dove under the 2 car’s inside in Turn 3. He said he bumped Busch’s car unintentionally, adding, “I barely got into him.”

“I probably made the move a little late (and) I got into him,” Gordon said. “It wasn’t much, but I gave him enough of a reason from past history (to retaliate). Or whatever thoughts he has, it sparked it. At that point, he was determined to wreck me.”

“So either it was payback or (he) just got angry really quick and decided to wreck us,” Gordon said.

Later in the race, Gordon bumped Busch in an apparent retaliation of his own (which a straight-faced Gordon explained by saying, “I guess I didn’t know he was on the outside of me”).

Busch was less than thrilled with Gordon’s payback attempt.

“His chicken move afterward wasn’t called for, but that just shows the game we’re going to play,” he said. “One bump versus another bump, it still seems like the scorecard isn’t even.”

Responded Gordon: “Like I said, if he just keeps making quotes, then I don’t need to say anything at all.”