As an athlete or professional competitor, there’s nothing wrong with being frustrated after a loss. However, there’s a fine line between feeling disappointment from a loss and being a sore loser. And NASCAR driver Kyle Busch regularly crosses it. This time, Kyle Busch took his frustrations out on Alex Bowman, who snagged the victory at this weekend’s NASCAR Pennzoil 400 in the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In his post-race interview, Kyle Busch was clearly distressed but managed to keep it professional, albeit short. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver said, “Trying to just do what I could to hold the lead there with Truex. Felt like I inched away finally and we were coming to the white or something, I don’t know what it was. But anyways… Wasn’t meant to be, not our day. See you next week.”
Busch’s stream of obscenities in his headset following the checkered flag, however, told a different story entirely. “The same f—ing guy who backs into every f—ing win that he ever f—ing gets back into another f—ing win. Bulls–t!”
Of course, the “private” comment from Busch made its way around the internet, and straight under the nose of Alex Bowman, himself. Rather than responding in kind, the Pennzoil 400 winner took the derogatory speech in stride, suggesting that it become the next Hendrick Motorsports t-shirt.
Yikes…. T shirt? https://t.co/gloe5LPvk9
— Alex Bowman (@Alex_Bowman) March 7, 2022
Kyle Busch vs Alex Bowman at the NASCAR Pennzoil 400
Hateful as his speech was, does Kyle Busch have a point when it comes to Alex Bowman’s racing prowess? Well, no. Not really. But don’t take our word for it, here’s a breakdown of Kyle Busch’s performance at the NASCAR Pennzoil 400 vs. Alex Bowman’s. You can make up your own mind about the results of the race.
After wrecking his car during practice, Kyle Busch was forced to start in the back of the field. His car suffered so much damage from the crash, in fact, that his team had to put together a backup car meant to be used for spare parts this weekend.
Trouble for Kyle Busch!
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) March 5, 2022
The Las Vegas driver spins and hits the wall hard in practice. (Via @NASCAR) pic.twitter.com/4qL1vBSCNW
Despite the rocky start, Kyle Busch and his #18 Toyota managed to make it to the lead position with 41 laps left in the race. After another wreck brought out the caution, the majority of the field opted for four fresh tires during the pit stop. Hendrick Motorsports drivers, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, and William Byron, however, chose the quicker option of two tires.
This put Kyle Busch in 4th place on the final restart, with Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman battling it out for first. Bowman crossed the checkered line just before his teammate, taking his 7th win in his Cup Series career.
And in our opinion, just because the Hendrick Motorsports driver has royally irritated competitors in the past (just ask Denny Hamlin), that doesn’t mean he’s backed into all of his wins.
