Kyle Busch says little on Carl Edwards’ last-lap pass for the win at Richmond

Kyle Busch spoke but had little to say about how the final lap of Sunday’s NASCAR race unfolded, a finish that saw Carl Edwards forcefully move Busch up the track to win the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Edwards was trailing Busch entering Turn 3 when he completed a bump-and-run maneuver allowing him to pass Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. Busch finished second.

Afterward Busch was tightlipped on what he thought of Edwards knocking him up the track, dodging a pair of questions about what had transpired during a post-race press conference.

Q: Did you have any expectations that he was going to make contact with you for the win?

Busch: Our Banfield Camry was real awesome today. We had a great racecar. My guys made some awesome adjustments to it. It was really good for us to have an opportunity to run and race for the win like that.

Q: Carl said maybe he felt a little bit differently about it because you both had wins, because you both were already in the Chase. Do you feel like these races are different with both of you holding a win?

Busch: My guys give me great race cars each and every week. We continue to have fast (cars). We’ll be continuing to run up front and race for wins.

Edwards later said that had the roles been reversed, he would have been OK with Busch push him up the track. Also factoring into Edwards’ decision to bump Busch was that both drivers already had victories this season, therefore essentially guaranteed spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff. Edwards had won the week before at Bristol Motor Speedway, while Busch won April 3 at Martinsville Speedway and April 9 at Texas Motor Speedway.

“Kyle’s an amazing teammate and it’s like he got really slow there at the end,” Edwards said. “Something happened that last lap. It was like his rear tires went off or something. He went down into (Turn) 1 and I dove it in and I got to him and I thought, ‘Man, I’ve got something.‘ And he went to get down to the bottom and park it in (Turns) 3 and 4 and I had already decided to go down there so I thought, ‘Man, I’m going to give him a little nudge,’ and we both have got wins and we’re racing for fun getting these trophies.”

Denny Hamlin, who also drives for JGR, supported Edwards’ bold play to win Sunday because he didn’t take out Busch instead opting for a classic short track move that allowed Busch to continue on.

“Ultimately if you give yourself an opportunity to win [and] you know you’re not going to wreck your teammate, I think it’s okay,” Hamlin said. “That’s the biggest thing -- you can’t wreck a teammate for a race win, that’s for sure.”