Kurt Busch accepts blame for causing multi-car crash at BMS

By foxsports
Published

Kurt Busch was battling for the lead in Sunday's rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway when he made a miscalculation that cost him dearly.

Fellow drivers Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Blaney, among others, also paid a heavy price for Busch's mistake after he got loose and took a hit from behind by Keselowski, setting off a chain reaction of events that immediately led to Blaney plowing right into the side of Kenseth.

Busch admitted it was his fault after miscalculating "by a few inches" where he placed his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet on the track as he fought in close quarters for the lead with the No. 22 Ford of Joey Logano, who is Keselowski's teammate at Team Penske. Logano narrowly escaped with the lead and very little damage to his car.

“I think I just missed the bottom groove by a few inches, got loose and the wreck was on," Busch said. "The way that our car was restarting it felt comfortable, it felt good. That inside (groove) with the rosin and the VHT, if you don’t hit it exactly right you lose a lot of time.

"I tried to make up for it and got loose. I feel really bad for the Monster Energy guys.  We had a win in our sights and I just drove the car at 101 percent instead of that 99 that I probably needed to be at.”

The incident occurred on Lap 371 of the race scheduled for 500 laps at the 0.533-mile short track, effectively ruining the chances of a decent finish for all involved.

Keselowski said there was nothing he could do to prevent his No. 2 Ford from hitting Busch's car.

"He got loose and by the time I saw it I was already making contact with him," Keselowski said. "It was kind of one of those Bristol things."