Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch wreck racing for the Brickyard 400 lead at Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. had worked together on restarts all afternoon, assuring they maintained the top two positions during the Brickyard 400 Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But deciding they needed to lookout for their own self interests, Busch and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing informed Truex and Furniture Row Racing that there would be no more cooperation on a restart with 49 laps remaining. Complicating the situation, the teams are in a tight technical alliance where they freely exchange data, and JGR supplies FRR cars and parts.

The decision backfired.

With Truex the leader and lined up in the inside lane and Busch to his outside, the two raced hard into Turn 2. As they did, Truex got loose and slid up the track causing both their Toyotas to slam into the outside wall, resulting in significant damage to both cars. Truex’s car erupted into flames, which were quickly extinguished, while Busch was nearly clipped as he careened back into traffic.

“I just got loose and wrecked him,” Truex said. “Totally my fault. Didn’t really know what to expect in that position and didn’t really realize that he was going to drive in that deep and suck me around. I will take the blame for that and obviously it was my fault. I hate it for Kyle; he had a great car and we did as well, but that’s racing.”

Before the crash, Busch had led 87 of 110 laps and was seemingly well-positioned to become the first driver to win three consecutive Brickyard 400s. A win Sunday would’ve also snapped a career-long, 35-race winless streak that dates to last year’s race at Indianapolis.

Despite the apparent dominance, Busch stood by his decision to abandon the restart strategy the teams were successfully executing, believing track position had become too important with laps winding down in a race on a track where passing can be difficult. If the race continued without another caution, he questioned whether he would be able to catch and pass Truex.

“I guess we could have continued to play the teammate game and try to settle it on a green flag pit stop,” Busch said. “But he could be that much faster than me and yard me by three seconds on a run with the clean air, then I would never be able to get the opportunity to pass him back even if we had to settle it on a pit stop.

“Wanted to go out there and put ourselves in the record books for three in a row, but not happening.”