Kyle Busch calls Christopher Bell 'butthead' of last year, flips script after 2025 COTA race

Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell rekindled their COTA rivalry on Sunday but this time, it was Busch who self-admittedly played the “butthead.”

Last year, Busch was sent spinning after Bell went for a dive-bomb move, which resulted in the two-time Cup Series champion confronting Bell on pit road after the race. Their paths crossed once again Sunday, this time battling for the lead in the final laps of the race. Busch used up every bit of his No. 8 Chevrolet in fending off Bell, until side-by-side contact between the two eventually led to Bell making the race-winning pass.

Busch made it clear after the race he was a “complete butthead” while trying to hold off Bell and doubled down again on Monday.

“Last year the #20 was the butthead,” Busch wrote on X. “This year it was me. GG [Bell].”

Last year the #20 was the butthead. This year it was me. GG @CBellRacing.👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/SUrAWYo34v

— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) March 3, 2025

Christopher Bell gets the best of Kyle Busch at COTA

Busch dominated much of the action, leading a race-high 42 laps. He had command of the race late but after a Lap 78 caution called for one final restart — on Lap 83 — Busch knew he would have his hands full. Bell had the fresher tires and spent the next six laps throwing everything at Busch. Coming off Turn 20 on Lap 90, Bell finally cleared Busch for the lead.

Busch’s car had nothing left, and he faded to fifth by race end. Bell took the checkered flag for his second consecutive win, with Busch’s career-long winless streak stretching to 60 races. That caution, Busch said, was the difference. But the battle with Bell was clean, which he respected.

“I wish we could have had a little bit more there at the end,” Busch said, via Reid Spencer of NASCAR.com. “I feel like maybe the two-lap fresher tires the 20 had was the difference. … But I also hated to see that yellow that came out. I felt like we had a little bit of a gap there that I was protecting my tires, and I could run the lines I wanted to run. I didn’t have to run defensive lines and use up my stuff even more so [which I did] when the 20 was right on me.

“I’ll give Christopher credit, though, where credit’s due. He ran me really hard, and I was a complete butthead. But he did a great job working me over and just doing it the right way and being able to get by.”