Kyle Larson, crew blame Kyle Busch for Enjoy Illinois 300 wreck: 'Total idiot'
Kyle Larson is not happy with Kyle Busch after the two got involved in a wreck during the second stage at the Illinois 300 on Sunday. Per Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Larson and his crew discussed the wreck and went after Busch.
“I mean, he turned into me,” Larson said.
“Yeah, he f***ing crowded you down like a total idiot,” a crew member said.
Larson added: “I’ve got a flat.” (But then says he doesn’t).
The wreck led to Busch not finishing the race. Larson, however, continued as he met the minimum speed, according to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports.
Larson competes in the Illinois 300 after missing out on the Coca-Cola 600 last weekend. He first took part in the Indy 500 and earned a P18 finish. Larson then traveled to Charlotte for the NASCAR Cup Series race, but he did not drive one lap because the race was called due to weather.
Since Larson missed the Coca-Cola 600, he is not eligible to make the playoffs. The only way he can race in the postseason is get a waiver from NASCAR, but it’s not clear if that will happen.
“The waiver thing doesn’t make any sense as it stands right now. … I’m sure it’s confusing,” Larson said, via Steven Taranto of CBS Sports. “I think NASCAR’s probably trying to figure out what to do. If I get a waiver, do they have to rewrite the rules?”
Kyle Busch will have to wait another week to end drought
The wreck was a big blow for Busch because he has to wait another week to win his first race of the year. Days before the Illinois 300, Busch spoke to Pockrass about being worried that his streak of winning at least one race in the last 20 years will be snapped.
“I’m not stressing over the playoffs probably as much as I’m stressing the 20-year win streak,” Busch said. “That’s the bigger goal. You win a race for that, you’re going to be in the playoffs.”
Busch also talked about what the streak means to him. “I think it says a lot, Busch said. “There’s a lot of different cars that I’ve raced in that time. “There’s been a lot of different crew chiefs I’ve worked with and engineers and teams and people and pit crews and all that stuff.
“It just goes to show you how tough this sport is and where it’s become. What it boils down to is just being able to be consistent with fast cars, be upfront, we’ve had it some weeks, we haven’t had it in others.”